Mission Impossible
by Midnight's Shining Star
Summary: Things are bad when Sasori and Deidara are given a mission that doesn't have a lot of information. They get worse when the bomber and puppet get into a nasty spat while traveling. Then, in a battle with ANBU they get separated. Trying to complete an almost impossible mission is hard enough but losing your partner makes it 10x worse! No pairings :P
1. Separated

**A/N UPDATED 11/19/2012: I've decided to redo all the chapters as I'm kinda changing the plot slightly on this. It's not going to be too noticeable really, but I also cleaned up some of the grammatical errors I found. This first chapter doesn't have too many changes but some of the later ones might have more dramatic ones. **

**Original A/N: Ai, yes, I know I have another fanfic I'm writing that I should focus on but I just had this idea and it couldn't wait! Don't worry, I'm still updating Times; haven't forgotten about it. Just wanted to start this before I could forget...**

**No pairings so don't go looking for one. This is more friendship than anything.  
**

**Sorry for any OOC-ness, as always I try and keep them as in character as possible!  
**

**I don't own the characters in this fic.  
**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Mission Impossible**_

* * *

**Chapter One: Separated**

* * *

Deidara sighed as he gazed up at the dark and stormy looking sky.

_Hm, looks like it might rain or something soon…at least that would make things interesting…somewhat…_

The blonde ex-Iwa was bored. He and Sasori had been travelling for an _eternity,_ at least it seemed that way to Deidara, all for some stupid mission that he wasn't even allowed to know the specifics of yet. Or actually, he was, but seeing as he had been a few minutes late when they were assigned the mission Sasori just wouldn't give him any details yet.

_Stupid puppet. How the hell am I supposed to know what we're supposed to be doing now? This punishment could just end up backfiring on him._

Sasori had told the blonde that he was going to have to, "Deal with the consequences of being late" since he failed to show up on time. Deidara had tried asking earlier but the Akasuna had simply stated that Deidara was going to have to wait until Sasori could sit down and explain it to him. All he could get was that they were going somewhere far away to do something very important and if he didn't shut the hell up and stop being annoying Sasori might be finding himself a new puppet. After that Deidara had decided he'd had enough of walking next to his grumpy partner and instead sculpted a clay bird so that he could fly above the puppet. Sasori had made no objections; as long as the blonde was out of his hair and not doing anything stupid he was fine. But now Deidara was bored. There was nothing interesting to look at as the whole landscape seemed to be the same, unchanging, flat, boring surface.

Sasori had also expressly forbidden the blonde from making anymore "Useless sculptures" as he called it after Deidara accidentally detonated one of them slightly too close to Sasori. Deidara had, of course, found the whole incident rather amusing but obviously the puppet didn't take it the same way.

So now, the blonde was bored out of his mind. He thought about trying to ask Sasori what the hell they were doing again but decided against it since he would probably only get the same answer from the Akasuna.

_He can be so stubborn. It's stupid really…I wonder if he's only mad because I was late or because of that incident with the puppets a couple of weeks ago…could he still be mad about that? Seems pretty stupid. I thought he was through punishing me with that one. _

Deidara sighed again when suddenly an idea flashed through his head. Smirking, he started making his bird do little tricks in the air.

_Ah yes, finally, at least it's something to do_.

Sasori didn't notice at first, or at least, he pretended not to. But after a while Deidara began creating some wind rather close to Sasori which did not please the puppet in the least.

"_BRAT!_ What the hell are you doing up there?"

"Just having some fun danna, un." Deidara answered innocently

"Well cut it out! Before you do something stupid and fly into a tree or something."

"But danna, there aren't any trees big enough around to fly into"

Sasori growled a bit at the blonde pointing out the obvious. "Just, stop it idiot. If you fall I won't help you"

"I won't fall, un"

"DEIDARA!" Sasori shouted menacingly.

"_Whaat?" _Deidara asked. Aware that he was being a little whiny at the moment.

"Just. Stop. Before I make you."

"But Sasori no danna…"

"SHUT UP AND DO WHAT I SAY!"

"Yeah, fine, whatever, un." Deidara answered and brought the bird back to its normal flight path. _Kill of joy._

A few more minutes passed and the sky grew gradually darker. Deidara hoped it would rain and ruin all of Sasori's puppet scrolls. Maybe then they could stop and Sasori would tell him just exactly what they were doing. Then again if Sasori's puppets were ruined he probably wouldn't want to talk to anybody, much less Deidara. So he took that part back. But he was still hoping for rain, or something to change the scenery at least. Though, if it did rain that would mean that Deidara would have to walk since wet clay doesn't exactly fly well. He could probably hold it together for a little while but he'd have to come down eventually and then he'd have to deal with Sasori again. Maybe rain wasn't the best idea.

_Snow._ Yeah, now there was an idea. Snow wouldn't be wet enough to ruin his clay though it might freeze the bird over and make it slick. Deidara wouldn't mind that. Snow was less wet than rain generally albeit far colder. Deidara could deal with the cold though, being from Iwa and all which was one of the northern countries. Then they would probably have to stop because though Deidara knew Hiruko could travel through sand and many other different types of terrain he wasn't sure how well it would do in snow. In fact, he was pretty sure it wouldn't do well at all and he knew Sasori would rather stop than travel without Hiruko, especially if he had to walk in the snow. Though, Deidara wasn't quite sure if it was cold enough for snow. Cold enough for freezing rain maybe but he was unsure about snow.

_Maybe it'll get way colder and all the joints in Sasori's puppets will freeze up. That would be kinda funny actually._

It wasn't that Deidara exactly wanted misfortune on his partner, it was just, Sasori hadn't exactly been nice to the blonde lately and Deidara just couldn't figure out what he had done wrong. Sasori never generally was _nice_ in the normal sense of the word but what perplexed the blonde the most was that Sasori was withholding mission information from him. He just couldn't figure out why. He'd been late before but Sasori had never pulled this stunt on him.

_Maybe he's just a little more grumpy than usual?_

Deidara shook his head. He never would understand his partner and the only thing he could do now was go with it.

"_BRAT!_ Are you listening?"

Deidara was snapped out of his daydreams be Sasori's yelling.

"Huh? Sorry danna, what was that, un?"

Sasori sighed. "I said, the weather looks like it's going to change and night is coming so we're going to look out for a place to stay. If you see anything on that contraption of yours up there let me know."

"Oh, ok…"

_Yes! Finally! Maybe now he'll tell me._

Deidara began scanning the area out with his scope looking for a suitable place to camp for the night. However, though he searched for a long time he couldn't seem to find anywhere good enough.

_Flat, flat, and more flat. Damn this place is so boring. _

Finally, Deidara's eyes settled on a small, rocky, sheltered area a little ways off.

"Sasori-danna?"

"What brat?"

"There's a place about five miles ahead that looks good, un."

"Fine, let's go."

Deidara only nodded and the pair started to head off towards the direction of the shelter. As time wore on, it really did being to get colder and eventually started to snow.

_Heh, cool, so it was cold enough to snow!_

Eventually, though it was rather pleasant at first the snow soon started coming down more frequently in big flakes. Deidara and Sasori only just made it in time before the wind started really picking up, driving the flakes all around so they seemed even more numerous than before.

Deidara landed outside the shelter and watched the falling snow. He thought it was cool and at least it was changing the boring flat surface into something more interesting now. Sasori, however, did not think the same.

"Brat, get in here before you get sick or something."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, un."

With one last look at the snow Deidara turned and ducked his head inside the shelter.

Sasori had gotten out of Hiroku and was set to work fixing him or whatever the hell it was he did. Deidara sat in a corner close to the entrance and decided to watch the snow since Sasori obviously wasn't going to tell him anything just yet. The blonde soon became so absorbed in his observations that he didn't notice that Sasori had finished and was now watching him, the faintest hints of amusement present on his face.

"Is that all you're going to do brat?"

Startled, Deidara turned around to face Sasori.

"Huh? Oh well, I was just waiting for you to finish, un…"

"Hn, well, make yourself useful and start a fire or something so that everything in here doesn't freeze"

"Yeah, alright."

_What does he want one of those for? I thought he can't get cold…and I doubt anything will really freeze but whatever. Better to make him happy than to have him screaming at me._

Deidara set to work building a fire and once he had finished he sat back on his heels and put his hands out in front of it. He supposed it was getting a little chilly…

"Danna?" Deidara spoke up suddenly, "Since we have time now…can you tell me what th-I mean, what we're supposed to be doing, un?"

Sasori looked up at the blonde, pulled something out of his cloak, tossed it over to Deidara and said, "Read that and stop bugging me."

Deidara caught the scroll, hastily unrolled it and began to read.

_Hell yeah! This isn't an explanation really…but at least it's the mission. Now let's see…um, okay…never heard of that village before….wait a minute…what?_

Deidara looked up slowly from his reading and glanced over at Sasori with a look of puzzlement in his eyes. Sasori, who had been watching the blonde read, said

"So, you know now."

"…but…that is…why are we…I don't get it…"

"You don't have to. Just do your job"

"But, I-"

"Go to sleep Deidara. It doesn't matter what you think. This is our mission."

Deidara looked over the scroll again, re-reading in case he missed something.

_"…Infiltrate the village and collect any information you can. Then await further orders." What. The. Hell? That's **it**? Well, no wonder Sasori was in a grumpy mood. I don't mind winging it as much but Sasori hates that type of thing. Though, why is Pein being so cryptic all of a sudden? He's normally very specific; I don't like this. Come to think of it, things haven't really been normal at Akatsuki for a while, that is, if you can even call anything Akatsuki does "normal." Everything's starting to be so secretive…I don't like it._

"Brat, I said go to sleep. And give me back that scroll."

Sasori interrupted Deidara's thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah" Deidara answered quickly and handed the rolled up scroll back to Sasori.

Lying down to sleep he started to think again.

_I wonder if this is at all related to those incidents…nah, I'm overthinking it. Pein's just being Pein. Then again, it could just be Sasori pulling my chain. I don't put it past him…but no, he probably wouldn't do that. He doesn't do anything without a purpose and I don't really see what that would be here. Whatever, I'll just…forget about it for now. _

* * *

The snow had not let up at all during the night. In fact, when Deidara and Sasori went out in the morning it was still going. Sasori was pretty angry that he couldn't use Hiroku and also that he had to walk but Deidara was actually enjoying himself.

He had thought for a minute about offering his partner a ride but decided to wait and make the puppet ask for one himself. After all, Sasori had been at it all morning, taking out his anger on anything that happened to be nearby. Which was mostly Deidara.

Anyways, Sasori didn't like Deidara's birds so he probably wouldn't enjoy it much. Though, Deidara thought he might ask anyways and be a nice partner. Maybe then Sasori wouldn't be so grumpy to him. Or it could backfire and Sasori could just get even angrier at the blonde. Even still, he could just fly up high enough until he couldn't hear Sasori, should that happen.

"Sasori-danna?"

"_What_, brat?" Deidara almost regretted having said anything but he'd already started so might as well finish asking.

"Uh, do you want to ride on the bird with me? You wouldn't have to walk anymore, un."

Sasori contemplated this for a moment and answered, "Fine. Just don't do anything stupid."

The puppet didn't seem altogether too pleased at the prospect of sharing a ride with his younger partner but Deidara figured he was probably just sick of trudging through the snow and had decided that riding with the blonde couldn't be _that_ bad.

So, Deidara landed close to his partner and waited for Sasori to get on before taking off again.

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful. Deidara tried to make conversation with his partner but after his first few attempts had been met with nothing more than mere grunts he gave up trying and instead focused his energy on flying the bird. Normally, Deidara wouldn't care so much about how the wind would rock the thing but with Sasori now he decided to try and settle it down a bit. Both because the bird now carried more weight and also because Sasori probably didn't care much for getting buffeted by the wind.

As the day wore on the weather didn't let up and it was getting on Deidara's nerves. True, he had wanted the snow, but that was yesterday and right now the stuff was making it hard to fly. It kept piling up on the bird and no matter how many times Deidara tried to sweep it off there always seemed to be a permanent layer of about two inches on the thing. He was also getting tired since the added weight of both Sasori and the snow meant that the blonde had to add more chakra energy to keep the bird up in the air. He was only ever used to having to deal with himself and maybe some light snow or rain, but not this and the effects were beginning to show. More than once Sasori had to shake Deidara awake so that he wouldn't crash the thing.

Around the fifth time Sasori did this he said, "Deidara, land."

"Mm, huh? It's fine…"

"No, it's not. The weather's getting worse and you're getting tired. At least drop me off; I don't want to be on this thing when you crash it."

"Tch, fine, fine, un."

_Crash indeed. But we have been going for a while and it wouldn't hurt to stop for a bit…_

Deidara looked for a place to land but couldn't really find anywhere suitable. Finally, he just decided to go near some thin and meager looking trees.

_Better than nothing at least…_

Landing, Deidara slipped off his bird and almost fell over.

_Alright, maybe I am kinda exhausted…_

After helping Sasori set up camp a bit he laid down under the semi-shelter they had made and almost immediately fell asleep.

* * *

"Brat, come over here and help me with this."

Sasori said but received no response from his blonde partner.

"Brat? ….DEIDARA!"

And still, no response. Sasori turned to give his partner a piece of his mind when he saw the blonde had fallen asleep.

_Tch, I knew he was tired. Stupid kid, if it were up to him he probably would have kept going until he really did crash._

Sasori got up and went over to fix the little shelter Deidara had made rather hurriedly so that it let less snow in. Then he sat down next to his partner who stirred a bit but kept on sleeping.

_Well, at least he can be useful when he wants to. As much as I hate to admit it that bird was better than walking on the ground. And we did move a bit faster which was good. He's still an annoying kid but at least he can do that._

Sasori snorted. Deidara could be annoying at times but at least he was manageable and generally he did what Sasori told him. Though sometimes it could take a little bit before the blonde actually decided it was worth doing. With a sigh, Sasori laid back to try and sleep while he waited for morning to come.

* * *

_Damn weather always having to go and be a pain in the ass…alright weather, listening? STOP NOW!_

Deidara was annoyed. Yes, he had wanted it to snow but that was two days ago. The stupid weather just didn't know when to quit. He didn't exactly believe it would stop just because his thoughts wished it, but then again maybe weather could read minds. It did start snowing when he wanted. Although, this was no longer snow. This was freezing rain. And Deidara hated how his bird was getting all icy.

Sasori was probably right; he probably shouldn't try to fly in this weather. But he didn't want to walk. His partner had started getting on his nerves again this morning after they'd had a late start. It wasn't Deidara's fault though; Sasori had been busy making some modifications to Hiroku so that he could use the damn ugly thing in the snow. As such, they were a little late getting started and Sasori was not pleased in the least.

Alright, maybe Deidara _had_ tried to liven things up a bit while he was waiting. But he was _bored_ waiting for the puppet and he hadn't _meant_ to detonate the explosive so close to Sasori; his partner had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Anyways, it was all Sasori's fault. If he hadn't been taking so damn long to finish Deidara wouldn't have had need to occupy himself. Also, Sasori didn't need to be so harsh all the time. Deidara had apologized, or tried to in any case. But Sasori just wasn't hearing any of it and instead they continued on their way after Sasori made Deidara clean up the mess.

This of course only made their delay even greater and in turn only lead to Sasori being even angrier with the blonde. So Deidara was flying now while Sasori was with the new and improved Hiroku. Personally, he thought it only made the puppet uglier but if he said that out loud Sasori would flip out.

Deidara really wished the stupid weather would cut it out. It was kind of getting cold. And freezing rain was slightly wetter than snow. And his bird was all icy which made it hard to stay on since he kept slipping.

"Danna?"

"What brat?"

"How much longer is it going to take to get there, un?"

"Forever if you don't quit being stupid." Sasori snapped.

_Tch, still mad at me? Really now…_

"Come on danna, I didn't mean it. I didn't think-"

"That's the problem you brat, you never think!"

Normally Deidara would just let this roll off and curse Sasori under his breath or blow something up. In the short time he had been with Sasori he had learned not to let these things get to him. But he was wet, cold, tired and his partner's jabs were only adding to his distress.

"Well, you're not always so smart yourself. Maybe you should have fixed that ugly puppet of yours _before_ coming someplace where you knew the weather would change so much, un."

"Shut up brat."

Deidara swung his bird around so that he was facing Sasori, flying backwards.

"Make me, un."

Hiroku's giant metal tail suddenly swung out at Deidara who quickly moved his bird out of the way to dodge.

"Next time you won't get so lucky brat." Sasori growled.

"Tuh, yeah right, that ugly heap of wood and scrap metal that you call art couldn't ever get me, un" Deidara muttered.

He had been more or less talking to himself and hadn't exactly meant for Sasori to hear it. Nonetheless, the puppet _had_ heard what he said and it struck a nerve. Hiroku's tail swung out again but this time Deidara wasn't expecting it.

_Smack._

Sasori hit Deidara across the face causing the blonde to lose his footing and go flying off his bird and land face first in the cold snow. Deidara quickly sat up and looked over at Sasori who didn't stop or anything to see if his partner was alright. He simply kept moving on ahead.

Deidara sat in shock, lifting his hand to touch his cheek where Sasori had struck him. He had made Sasori mad before but the puppet had never actually _hit_ him. True he had tried before, but Deidara could tell that Sasori had never meant to actually strike him. This time though his partner _had _meant to hit him and he had succeeded too.

"Hurry up brat, or you might get frozen there."

Recovering from his original shock the blonde retorted.

"Why the hell do you care, un?"

"I don't. Stay there and freeze to death for all I care."

Another shock. Sasori was cold but he was a good partner as far as that went. Deidara must have really made him mad.

"Maybe I will. Then at least I can get away from you and your stupid puppets, un."

Really, all Deidara wanted at the moment was to stop the fighting and keep going so that they could finish the mission. He didn't really mean the things he was saying but he was tired of Sasori always picking on him.

"Good, go and die. Then I won't have to deal with you and your annoying mouth all the time. Oh, excuse me, _mouths_."

Deidara just sat there, too shocked to move really. Sasori's words stung worse than his burning cheek. He opened his mouth to say something in objection when suddenly he sensed several chakra presences in the vicinity drawing quickly closer. So instead he jumped up after Sasori who had sensed the others too.

_ANBU_

Deidara thought,

_And lots of them…_

Before the S-class shinobi knew it they were surrounded by many ANBU and deeply engaged in battle. Deidara hadn't had time to make it all the way back to Sasori and the puppet was also delayed by the other ninja. They were both on their own. And, as the battle wore on the weather grew worse until Deidara couldn't see more than ten feet in front of him even with his scope.

The blonde tried counting chakra presences to see just how many ninja he had left but stopped when he realized that he was sorely outnumbered. And he couldn't keep this up forever. One ANBU? Fine. Two or three, hell even five? Sure. But ten or greater…that was more than enough even for a highly capable Akatsuki.

Deidara sucked in a breath. He wasn't exactly on friendly speaking terms with his partner at the moment but partners they were still. And like it or not they were going to have to work together if either of them wanted to get out of this mess alive.

"Danna? I'm going to distract them, ok? Then we can finish them…un."

Sasori gave no response but Deidara didn't have much of choice either way. He hoped that his partner just couldn't hear him over the clash of the battle and the howling of the wind but he had a feeling that Sasori was just ignoring him.

Deidara threw a high level explosive where he judged there were the most ANBU and then ran off in a different direction. About three or four of the ninja started following him and now Deidara had his chance. Quickly, he turned on the other ninja and dispatched them. He then started heading back towards where he thought he had left Sasori but then, about five more ANBU came after him.

_Well, shit! _

He started leading them off again. Unfortunately, the visibility had only gotten worse causing Deidara to miss some object on the ground that made him trip and slide down what he assumed to be a large hill or something.

Mentally cursing his luck he tried to judge how far the hill thing went and if there was anything to help slow or stop his fall. However, he couldn't see or feel anything that could help him and before the blonde knew it he whacked his head on some low overhanging branch rendering him unconscious as he slid the rest of the way down.

* * *

_Stupid blonde, he never knows when to shut up. _

Sasori thought. He was sorry he hit the kid, truly he hadn't meant it. But the blonde had been getting on his last nerves and he just snapped.

_Tch, he should know better than to try and test my patience._

In a like manner, he hadn't entirely meant everything he said after that either but the blonde should have just shut up and followed. Then they might not be in this mess with the ANBU. Sasori had known immediately that there was too many of them even for a couple of S-class shinobi to defeat.

After the presence of the ninja became known, Sasori tried to make his way back to his partner. He didn't really want to help Deidara at the moment, he was still mad at the blonde after all, but Pein would get on his case about it if he just let the blonde die. And even though he didn't want to admit it he was probably going to need help taking some of the ANBU out.

Before he could get there some ninja blocked his way forcing him to fight. He thought he heard Deidara shout something to him but he just couldn't make it out. He didn't answer because he figured whatever the blonde had to say could wait until later.

Suddenly, there was a massive explosion that sent many of the ANBU scattering.

_Oh, maybe he has a plan?_

Now there were much less ANBU to deal with and Sasori quickly took care of the remaining ones. After he had finished he waited to see if Deidara would come but realized that because of the weather he couldn't see very far. He was sure there were no more ANBU as he couldn't sense them but then you could never be sure with ANBU.

He decided to search a little for his partner as it was Deidara who made it able for them to defeat the ANBU, as much as he hated to admit it. And maybe he would apologize to the blonde too, maybe. He wasn't quite so mad anymore and really just wanted to get out of the weather and continue the mission.

"Brat? You done? Let's go!"

Sasori shouted but his voice was lost in the wind. He figured maybe his partner hadn't heard him so he tried again

"Deidara! Come on, let's get out of here. No use travelling when you can't see and the ANBU might come back"

Still no response. Sasori was beginning to think that perhaps his partner was just ignoring him as he may still be mad about the earlier incident.

"Deidara? I said let's go!"

Only the wind answered Sasori's shouting.

"Fine, whatever, don't talk to me. I thought I saw a sheltered place a few hundred feet ahead. I'm going there."

Sasori figured that was good. The blonde would get over himself eventually and come to find Sasori. He always did.

Sasori left to head over to said sheltered area and wait for both his partner and the storm to run its course.

* * *

When Deidara woke up the first thing he noticed was that he was lying at the bottom of a valley like place and also that it had stopped storming. As he sat up slowly and took in his surroundings he tried to remember what the hell had happened the night before.

_Oww…my head…and how the hell did I get down here in the first place? Where's Sasori? Oh wait a minute…that's right…he hit me yesterday after I told him Hiroku was ugly and stupid. Which it is, but that's beside the point. Then we battled the ANBU…oh yeah, I was trying to separate them. Divide and conquer heh. I must've tripped or something and fell down here…it was pretty nasty out last night. But Sasori wouldn't just leave me, would he? I made him pretty mad last night…and he didn't really seem to care…but he never would do that…I don't think…he's probably somewhere around here…if I can just find him…_

"Sasori-danna?"

Deidara called out.

"You up there, un?"

No response.

_Ugh, he's probably still mad…stubborn puppet…_

"Look, I know you're probably upset about yesterday still but can you at least not ignore me, un?"

Deidara was beginning to get the sinking feeling that Sasori really had left him or forgot about him or something. But he tried one more time anyways.

"Danna? Come on….Look, I'm really _really _sorry! Okay? Now can you come out please, un?"

…_Damnit, either he's super pissed or he really did leave…ugh, maybe I should try and get out of this place…and see if I can find him or something._

With some difficulty, Deidara managed to climb out of the gulley. What surprised him was that he didn't recognize the terrain in the least; last he knew the place had been flat with little trees and now he was in some sort of woods that weren't very flat at all.

_Damn, I ran farther than I thought last night…it was just so hard to see…though, maybe that hill thing has something to do with it. It's pretty steep…how do I know if I came up on the right end? Damnit…this is just perfect._

Deidara sat down for a moment to try and think of what to do next. He needed to find Sasori but where to start looking was the question. And he still didn't know whether Sasori would want to be found by him.

_He probably hates me; well more than he already did anyways. I'm sure he just didn't care and left me…but I do still need to find him. Like it or not we still have a mission to finish… Now I really do feel bad about last night…_

While the blonde was trying to come up with a solution to all of this he suddenly sensed a lot of chakra signals headed his way. And before he could realize what had happened he was surrounded by at least twelve ANBU.

_Oh just great. Are these guys buddies with the ones we defeated last night? Shoot…there's no real way out of this…guess I'm going to have to fight them…_

* * *

With the coming of morning and still no sign of his blonde partner Sasori was annoyed and slightly worried. He didn't think it would take Deidara this long to find him. He kept telling himself that the blonde was probably just off sulking somewhere, waiting for the storm to let up to come and find him. But the storm was long gone by now and there was still no sign of the bomber.

_He's just being stubborn, that's all. Stupid kid. I'll go and see if I can find him now…we really need to get a move on that mission._

As Sasori stepped out of his shelter he could see all the signs from the battle of the previous night, but nothing of his partner. If Deidara had wandered off anywhere, Sasori couldn't tell. There were some prints in the snow but they were very vague and most of them had been covered up by the storm from the night before. He wouldn't be able to find the blonde that way.

"Deidara! Come on out now! We have to go and finish the mission!"

Sasori shouted out but received no answer. He tried a few more times but was always met with the same result, silence. Now Sasori was really beginning to get a little more worried, though he wouldn't let it show. Deidara could be quiet when he wanted to but his personality kept him from remaining that way for long. At least around Sasori. Even if he was still angry with the puppet he would have made a least a smart remark about something by now. The silence was just…unnatural.

He was wondering where the blonde could have gotten to. Surely he couldn't have gone very far…could he have? With the way the storm had been Sasori supposed that it was a possibility for the kid to have gotten lost in the fight. But, how far did he go, and where?

"Deidara, if you can hear me, come on out already! This game is getting old."

Sighing, Sasori told himself that the blonde was just hiding somewhere a little out of earshot and once Sasori got in range the kid would come out and find him.

With that thought, the puppet set out to search for his blonde partner but couldn't shake the feeling in the back of his mind that there was another reason Deidara wasn't around. He could only hope it was wrong.

* * *

**A/N: And, there you go! Not sure how good it is...like I said I just had the idea and decided to try it :3 Please R&R!**


	2. Wandering

**UPDATED 11/29/12 A/N: Yup yup, update this chappie, not much difference here either. Grammatical errors fixed as I found them and, well, those who read the first will know what's changed. **

**Original A/N: Well, here's my second chappie! :3 I think I was getting a little too much into Deidara's thoughts on the rain and everything...it's just that, this was exactly how I felt last weekend when I had to ref soccer in the damn rain. I guess I was kinda ranting through him :P **

**Anyways, I don't own any of the characters in this fic!  
**

**Again, I try my best to keep them in character so sorry for any OOC-ness!  
**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

**_Mission Impossible_**

* * *

**Chapter Two: Wandering**

* * *

Deidara quickly found that the ANBU were indeed friends of the ones from the night before. Or at least they were from the same village since they all seemed to have some sort of vendetta against him. That or they were just really aggressive ANBU who hated Akatsuki with a burning passion. Then again, Deidara wasn't sure of anyone he knew who actually _liked_ Akatsuki minus all the idiots over in Ame.

For whatever reason, these ANBU seemed ten times harder to beat than any others he had battled before. Of course, they also had numbers on their side and were probably better rested than Deidara who was still sore from the previous night's battle and the time he spent in the gulley.

Despite the odds Deidara still managed to hold his own, at least for a while. But he was beginning to wear down. The battle had been dragging on for a good twenty minutes and though he had taken out or killed most of the ANBU he still had at least six left. And they had him surrounded. He knew there was no way he could take out the rest of them without doing something extreme. He also knew that trying to run away would be very risky since they already had him cornered and though Deidara was fast, he was tired. ANBU aren't slow though the blonde could generally outrun them and besides, they still had him outnumbered. Whatever he did, he had to do it soon. He was running out of time.

Weighing the options, Deidara decided that running would be the wisest choice at the moment. He normally didn't like running but considering that fighting would mean pulling off some even trickier maneuvers he thought it best to take his chances. Now, how to pull it off was the question.

The six ANBU left surrounded him on all sides. Any which way he moved, there was an ANBU blocking his way. It seemed as if there was no way he was going to be able to get away from the hunter ninja. Suddenly he had it.

Deidara quickly dodged a kick to his stomach and stuck his hands inside his clay pouches.

_Damnit…I'm almost out of clay…as soon as I get away from these guys I should find a place to make some more…_

Using up the remnants of his clay the blonde quickly made a few explosives. He dashed towards the ANBU in front of him then, as he was almost on top of them, cut quickly to the right gathering enough speed to just barely make it past the ANBU there. He sent the bombs back towards the ninja hoping to buy enough time to get a good lead.

Hearing no one following behind him Deidara decided to slow down a bit to turn and see if his bombs had been deadly or not. This proved to be a mistake for this gave the ANBU the chance to see exactly what direction the blonde had gone off in causing a barrage of various weapons to be sent in Deidara's direction.

_Shit. _

At the very least he knew that three of the ANBU had been taken out by the explosives and there was only one chasing after him now. Unfortunately he had very little time to get away from the oncoming weapons.

He turned to get away as quickly as possible however he felt two shuriken embed themselves into his right arm as well as a kunai in his side. He didn't stop to pull them out. He couldn't. The ANBU was now chasing him and he needed to get away from there as soon as possible. He thought about ways to get rid of his ANBU tail.

_I can't use any more bombs on him; I'm out of clay. And I don't think I could really take him on in one on one combat right now. Even if I could his friends are still back there and who knows? They might have more reinforcements or something. Then I'd really be screwed._

A couple of kunai whizzed by Deidara's head.

_Ugh…what to do…_

Suddenly, the ANBU stopped following Deidara but this time the blonde didn't stop or slow down to take a look behind him. He kept going for a good fifteen minutes before he even dared to glance back. Seeing no one behind him and not sensing any chakra presences within the vicinity the blonde let out a sigh of relief and came to a stop.

_Finally! Must have decided I wasn't worth it. That or they're going to come looking for me after they get even more ANBU…ugh…ow…damnit…_

Deidara clutched at his side and remembered the weapons.

_Ugh, probably should take care of that now…_

Sinking down to a sitting position with his back to a tree he removed the weapons and shook of his Akatsuki cloak to check the severity of his injuries cringing at the sting of the cold air. They were bleeding a bit but weren't so bad. The thickness of the Akatsuki cloak had kept the weapons from going in too deep. Ripping off the end of one of the sleeves on the cloak Deidara wrapped up his injuries and put the cloak back on. He leaned back against the tree and sighed.

_Okay, well, I suppose the next step would be to find a way to get more clay…in case I run into any more ANBU or something. Then I can look for Sasori. _

Nodding to himself, Deidara got up and went to see if he could find a stream to make more clay.

* * *

Sasori had been looking for what felt like ages for his blonde partner. But still he could find no sign of Deidara or any hint as to where he may have gone. Sasori wondered just how far his partner could have gone. Not too far he had thought, but then again, Deidara could travel quickly and if he got lost in the storm he might have started heading off in the wrong direction. Sasori shook his head. No, he was certain the blonde couldn't have gone too far.

_But what if he had…stupid kid…I'm beginning to regret last night…_

Sasori mentally slapped himself. The blonde should have the sense to stay in the vicinity. Plus, it wasn't like he really cared anyways. He was only looking for Deidara because he needed his partner to finish the mission and Pein would probably be angry if he came back without the blonde. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

At this point, Sasori wasn't sure what he should do next. He had no way of knowing where the blonde was or where he went and walking around in circles certainly wasn't accomplishing anything.

_Maybe if I go back to where we had that battle…there might be something there that I missed the first time. _

Grumbling to himself, the puppet turned around and went back to where he and his partner had fought the ANBU the night before.

Upon reaching the site Sasori examined the area to check for anything he might have missed but found nothing except the bodies of a few of the ANBU who were dead. Sasori began to look them over and realized that one was still alive albeit probably on his last leg. Sasori was all set to just turn and go on searching for his partner when a sudden thought crossed his mind. Bending down next to the ANBU he said

"You, ANBU, do you know where the blonde Akatsuki went?"

The ANBU mumbled something unintelligible. Sasori sucked in a breath and grabbing the ANBU by the throat said, "I'm beginning to lose my patience. Do you know where he went or not?"

"…nn…cliff…" the ANBU coughed out and pointed in a direction off to behind Sasori. Then he fell back and Sasori knew that was all he would ever get out of the ANBU.

The Akasuna got up and looked in the direction the ANBU had pointed. He didn't see any cliff but then Deidara _did_ travel quickly, when he wanted to. Sasori guessed his partner had been trying to lead the other tracker ninja away in order to create a distraction or something. And he must have lost his sense of direction in the storm. This still didn't explain to Sasori why his partner had failed to come back but maybe this cliff was father off than he thought. Maybe Deidara had decided to stay and wait out the storm somewhere over there after he finished off the other ANBU and was heading back now.

_Maybe he's injured…or captured…or…dead…_

Sasori had never really cared much about the blonde but for some reason the thought of Deidara possibly being injured or worse, dead, worried him more than he would have liked to admit. He told himself that was stupid. The kid was too smart for that really, even though he could act like an idiot sometimes, or most of the time. Still, he found himself going at a slightly faster pace than normal.

After about fifteen minutes of travel Sasori finally found what the ANBU had been talking about. It wasn't really a cliff at all; more like a really big hill. But Sasori supposed that when one lived in such a flat area one might consider such a hill to be a cliff. That is, that's what Sasori had thought until he actually looked _down_.

At a glance, the thing seemed only to be a big hill. But on closer examination, it really was more like a cliff. It went pretty far down; far enough so that Sasori couldn't clearly see the bottom. There were also some trees growing up the sides of the gulley, further obstructing Sasori's line of sight.

"Deidara! Are you down there?"

No response.

"Deidara? DEIDARA!"

Still nothing. Sasori sighed. No answer didn't really mean anything. For all he knew the blonde could be unconscious at the bottom or something. Looking up across the wide gulley he could see the beginnings of a forest on the other side. He considered his options. It was very possible that Deidara could have fallen down into the valley and come up on the other side. Of course, it was also possible that he was down at the bottom as well.

Sasori decided to try and search the bottom of the place first and then come back up on the other side and see if he could find any hints of his partner having passed through. It wasn't much of a plan but it was all Sasori could think of at the time and quite honestly he wasn't exactly sure what else to do. So, very carefully, he started making his way down the cliff. His only hope being that this actually led to something.

* * *

Deidara had managed to find a small stream so that he could make more clay. It definitely wasn't his best as the ground was pretty much frozen so he had a hell of a time getting anything to make it with but he managed.

It was better than nothing. At least now he could make his bombs and other various items now. Though his hands were freezing from being in the ice cold water…and it had started raining again. Freezing rain. Actually, it was pouring freezing rain.

Deidara wanted to go and search for Sasori some more but he was dead tired. And sore, and cold, and hungry and now wet as well. He figured it probably wasn't the smartest idea to go into the water to try and make some clay but he needed it. Besides, now that it was raining it wasn't like there was much difference anyways. He would have gotten wet either way, though, it was still awfully uncomfortable.

Getting up Deidara looked around for a place to rest for a bit and figure out what to do next. But he couldn't find one. He decided to walk a while and see if anything showed up. Along the way he began wondering what his partner was doing at the moment. Whether he had cared that Deidara was missing, whether he was still angry, and whether or not he was looking for the blonde.

_He probably still hates me…would he even look? He might…but probably only because he needs to complete the mission…and Pein would be awfully upset if he came back without me. Then again maybe he just doesn't care. Or maybe he is looking and just hasn't found me yet…but I didn't go that far…did I? Now I probably did though. I don't remember this forest at all. So, how far away did I go exactly?_

A strong gust of wind blew through just then driving all the rain into Deidara's face which only made him even colder than before. Shivering, he wrapped his Akatsuki cloak tighter around himself to try and keep in some of the warmth. His hands were still freezing though since he had no way to keep them warm. And he was still wet. Finally, he saw a little sheltered area. It was out in the open and would hardly provide much in the way of warmth or protection, but it could shield him from the rain at least. Still, he needed someplace where he could just sit and think for a moment and he figured that he might not find another as good as this if he just kept on walking.

He reached the area and settled down. It was out of the rain though he could still feel the wind. He really would have liked to start a fire or something, even a small one just to take the chill out a bit. But he knew this was both impractical as well as dangerous. It was raining too hard to really be able to start anything and even if he could it would probably be a bad idea. Those ANBU were still about and Deidara was sure that he hadn't seen the last of them though he had gotten away for the time being.

Instead, he leaned up against the back of the tree with the Akatsuki cloak wrapped tightly around him while he tried to come up with some sort of strategy for finding Sasori. But he couldn't think very well at the moment because he was tired and cold, and miserable. Also, his head had begun to hurt where he had hit it earlier and he was feeling slightly dizzy. Groaning a bit, he put his head back and closed his eyes.

_Well this is just **lovely**. Here I am in the middle of who knows where with no resources whatsoever and no way of finding my stupid partner. And it's cold, and wet…and I just want to sleep…gah! No, come on, keep it together Deidara. Oh, did I mention I have like, a zillion ANBU chasing me? Yeah, NOT GOOD. They probably all want to kill me. Or torture me. Or capture me. Or capture, then torture, then kill me. Always a happy thought._

…_.So…tired…_

_Ack! No, don't fall asleep! If those ANBU come around while I'm out then I'm screwed. Plus I still have to think of some way to get back to Sasori…but I feel…so…sleepy…_

_Ugh, can't…fall…asleep….come on Sasori…where…are you…_

Deidara's thoughts went blank as he drifted off into a state of unconsciousness.

* * *

Reaching the bottom of the cliff Sasori could still see no sign of his partner. Though, on the way down, he had noticed that _someone_ or _something_ must have fallen down since some of the trees looked like they had been rolled over or trampled. And he was sure it wasn't just the storm. Which, by the way, had started up again.

Sasori cursed his luck. He didn't particularly mind the storm for other than the fact that it was a nuisance. He was a puppet so he didn't feel the cold that badly. But the return of the storm also meant that any tracks or evidence or anything that he could find of his partner would either be covered up or washed away.

He couldn't find any trace of the blonde at all. It had taken him a full hour or more to get to the bottom of the cliff and now there was nothing. He searched for a long time and even tried calling out to the blonde again but to no avail. His partner just simply wasn't there. He decided it was time to go up the other side and see if he could find anything of the kid up there. Hopefully, there would be more than just a dead end this time. And hopefully, it would stop raining.

* * *

Deidara groaned as he woke up. He didn't know how long he had been out for and he didn't exactly remember falling asleep either. He shivered a bit and began to get up.

_Ugh…let me think…what to do…I suppose I should just look for Sasori. No good staying here really. There's not much shelter and the ANBU could come at any time. Sasori can't be too far…I hope. Now, where to go…I don't remember this place at all…I suppose I should go back to that place I came out of…but then again, I'm not sure I can find my way back. I guess the best idea would be to go around on foot looking for him or shelter; whichever I find first. Then when this damn storm lets up maybe I can make a bird or something and look for him from the air. It would be easier that way anyways._

Nodding to himself Deidara started to look around for a better place to stay for the time being. He sincerely hoped that it would stop raining and that the ANBU would decide it wasn't the best time to hunt Akatsuki. Looking around he couldn't find any place in sight that would really work as shelter and grumbled to himself as he knew he was going to have to walk a little bit more before he could find anything.

Deidara began to feel like he was never going to find anything, at least not in the storm. He thought he had been walking for hours though honestly he couldn't really tell as his sense of time was distorted from the storm. Finally, he settled on a lean-to sort of area made by a couple of fallen trees. It wasn't perfect, but it was something and it was better than what he had before.

Before going in he stopped and looked out through the woods. He didn't stay out long however because just then a strong gust of wind blew sending Deidara shivering into the lean-to. By now, he was feeling absolutely miserable. He was still cold and wet from the storm and by now he had started coughing a bit too.

_*Cough cough* _

_I'll just rest here for a bit…hopefully no more of those stupid ANBU will come. And hopefully this wretched storm will just quit it. _

_*Cough cough* _

_Ugh, I HATE this stupid place. Stupid Pein sending us on a stupid mission, stupid Sasori having to be so mean, stupid ANBU having to show up when it's least convenient, and stupid weather! I hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE this place! Ugh…_

_*Cough cough*_

_I better not be getting sick…damnit…_

Cursing the state of affairs under his breath Deidara set up a dozen or so small bombs around his shelter so that any ANBU, or anyone really for that matter, who was unfortunate enough to stumble upon it would be blown sky high before they could even react. Then he laid down to rest hoping that no ANBU would come and that the weather would change by the time he woke up.

…

_Crash!_

Deidara awoke with a start and looked around for the cause of the noise. He saw that a tree limb had fallen off and landed not ten feet in front of him due to an increase in the wind. Mumbling something about the stupid weather and weak trees he began to lie back again when suddenly his eyes shot open.

_Shit, I do **not** need this right now._

Quickly and silently he put away the bomb trap he had set and jumped to his feet, ignoring the dizziness and nausea he felt. He had sensed not less than nine prominent chakra presences in the area and he knew the ANBU were close. Whether or not they knew he was there yet was another matter entirely.

Masking his chakra, Deidara tried to move with as little noise as possible behind a nearby tree so that his position was more defendable and easier to get out of should it come to that. He didn't feel the ANBU mask their presences yet so he figured he may have gone by unnoticed by the tracker ninja. Still, he didn't move, waiting for the ANBU to pass through completely.

Eventually, he saw them come into sight. He waited for them to continue on their way but they all stopped; merely a few feet from Deidara's hiding place. One of the ninja was so close Deidara could hear his silent breathing and he swore if he leaned only slightly to the right that he could touch shoulders with the other ninja.

Frozen in place the young Akatsuki dared not move. Or even breathe much. He knew there was no way he was going to be able to take on all of these ANBU and make it out, especially in his current condition. But he dared not to try and run either because then they might hear him and they would chase him. His only option was to stay perfectly still, masking his chakra and hoping that the ANBU decided to move on quickly.

Unfortunately for Deidara it seemed as if the ANBU weren't going anywhere just yet. One of them, who Deidara guessed was the captain, made a signal which the blonde knew meant to stop. The ninja then called another one of the ANBU over and spoke whisperingly to the other. The other tracker ninja only nodded a few times as he listened to what his captain had to say.

By now Deidara was getting anxious. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stay like this as he was shivering again and an overwhelming feeling of dizziness came over him. He felt a cough coming up in the back of his throat but tried to keep it down for a bit, nearly choking. Finally, when he couldn't hold back any longer he let out a muffled cough.

_Crap._

The ANBU stopped talking and looked up. The captain said something and the others nodded. The one nearest Deidara then turned to look behind the tree. A feeling of panic overcame the blonde and, gathering all his strength, he jumped up into the tree hoping he didn't make too much noise. The ANBU looked around and, seeing nothing, turned back to his group and shook his head saying something in a low voice that Deidara couldn't make out.

Deidara breathed out a silent sigh of relief. A little too soon however because, in doing so, he relaxed his footing a bit on the icy tree branch, slipped, and fell down a few branches before regaining his balance. He held his breath. The ANBU all looked up towards him and suddenly realized that they were being watched.

Deidara didn't give them any more time. He started off jumping through the trees only hoping the ANBU would be too tired to go chasing after him. He had no such luck. Immediately he realized that at least four of the nine ninja were now hot on his tail and he had to think quickly of some way of getting rid of them.

Putting his hands into his clay pouches he molded some fast flying explosives, and, though he was tired, sent out some C2 level bombs at the ANBU. Normally, he wouldn't just jump right to the higher level explosives as they were more chakra heavy and he generally had more time. Now, however, he didn't have time and he wasn't sure he would have the chakra for a greater attack later so he figured it would be better to try and take them out all at once instead of fooling around with it.

It worked, for a while anyways. The four tails he had were no longer after him. But the five others who hadn't originally been chasing him soon realized what happened to their comrades and began going after him as well.

_Stupid ANBU…I don't have enough energy for this right now…_

Molding some more C2 bombs he tossed them back towards the ANBU hoping that would be enough for now. But this time it wasn't. He lost three of the ANBU sp there were only two following him now. Still, that was two too many. He tried sending more explosives their way but this time the tracker ninja suspected it and somehow one of them managed to send the bomb back towards Deidara. Quickly dodging his own explosive he glanced around at his surroundings trying to figure out a different way to take out the ANBU.

A few yards ahead he saw a low overhanging tree and had a plan. Passing nimbly under the tree Deidara discreetly placed a few spider bombs on it. Once the ANBU were almost directly underneath he detonated the bombs causing the tree to fall along with a massive amount of snow and ice.

_There. At least if they're not killed or injured or something there's at least the roadblock, should take them some time to get around that._

Feeling satisfied and knowing that the ANBU were no longer following him he slowed his pace a bit and thought about what to do next. He figured that he should try and go as far as possible in order to get away from the stupid ANBU who seemed to be dead set on capturing or killing him. But, he was exhausted and the trees were icy. He thought that he might want to try travelling on the ground instead but before he could he managed to step on a particularly icy part of a branch causing him to lose his footing and fall to the ground.

_Ugh, stupid damn trees. Well I wanted to be on the ground anyways, just got ther-OW!_

As Deidara tried to get up pain shot through his left ankle and up his leg. He put all his weight on his right leg and leaned up against a tree. Slowly, he tried putting more weight on his left but cried out as a sharp pain went through his leg.

Panting, he sank down to a sitting position. He bent forward to examine his ankle and leg, putting pressure on various points. Almost immediately it felt like someone was stabbing him with a bunch of kunai through the leg and he pulled back hissing in pain.

_D-damnit…it's probably broken…crap, this is not good. _

_*Cough cough* _

_What am I supposed to do now? Stupid ice…I'm not going to be able to travel very far or quickly anymore…what if those ANBU come back? I'd make a bird but I should probably try and save my chakra…that and it is still raining. _

_*Cough cough*_

Quite honestly, Deidara didn't know what to do. The pain in his leg told him he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon but he knew he had to get out of the open…in case the ANBU came back. Looking around he saw a small cave not too far off and decided to try and get there. With this new resolve he pulled himself up, grimacing, and slowly made his way towards the area, limping badly the whole way. Each time he even put the slightest bit of weight on his left leg pain immediately shot up through it and it took all he had not to scream or just fall over and give up.

Finally, after what seemed like ages to the blonde, he reached the cave falling into it. He didn't have the strength to try and pick himself up and he didn't try. Instead he just laid there; trying to figure out what he was going to do next as he felt himself being pulled into darkness.

* * *

It had taken Sasori a long time just to get to the top of the other side of the gulley considering the steep edge and the fact that the storm wasn't helping the iciness of the slope in the least. Still, after a few hours, Sasori made it up. Darkness was beginning to fall by this time and Sasori had the sinking feeling that he probably wouldn't be able to find the blonde that day.

Upon reaching the other side Sasori stared wide eyed into what seemed to be a vast expanse of forest. From the terrain of the other side one really wouldn't be able to tell that such a place could be on this side, but here it was.

_Damnit, Deidara could be anywhere in there. How the hell am I supposed to find him, or even know if he came this way?_

Wandering around for a bit into the woods Sasori saw the signs of a battle. His thoughts immediately rushed to his blonde partner as he tried to calm himself saying that it really could have been any sort of fight up there. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that Deidara was involved in this one way or another. He had no way of knowing for certain; Deidara never left any evidence of his presence, but he just felt it.

"Deidara? Are you around? Can you hear me?"

Sasori's voice was lost on the wind.

He knew he probably would receive no response but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try. As the sun set and darkness settled Sasori sighed. He was going to have to look for a place to stay for the night and continue his search in the morning. It was no use looking for Deidara at night when he couldn't see anything. Looking around a bit he settled down under the nearest tree. He didn't need much shelter, just a place to keep out of sight in case any enemies came. Grumbling to himself about the way things were turning out he settled down inside of Hiroku to wait until morning came.

* * *

**A/N: And, there we go! Hope you enjoyed! ^o^ Special thanks to my reviewers; you guys have no idea how happy you make me! :3**

**Please R&R!**


	3. Pursued

**UPDATED AGAIN! 11/30/12: Sooooo...I realized a HUGE mistake I made in uploading the updated chapters the first time...I ACCIDENTALLY PUT THE ALTERNATE CUT CHAPTERS UP! There wasn't supposed to be so much plot change...just a little...D: So here' the REAL fixed one. I think it was only chapters 3-6 that were affected? But I'm not sure...so someone tell me if 1 and 2 were changed much as well! (Alternate cut chappies are gonna go in a separate "fic" for people to read if they want...pretty much, those were some drafts I had...and some of them were just other ideas xP)**

**UPDATED 11/29/12 A/N: Updating pretty much everything at once...you know I stayed up until 5:30am to do this...I don't think I'll get any sleep today xP. Fixed grammatical errors and stuff. **

**Original A/N: So here's chapter three! I had writer's block at parts so if it seems forced in some areas that's because it is :P Hopefully it's not too bad though. I found it hard to write in Sasori's POV at times but after a couple tries I got used to it. **

**I don't own any of the characters in this fic (minus the nice ladies at the end ^o^)  
**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**_Mission Impossible_**

* * *

**Chapter Three: Pursued**

* * *

The first thing Deidara realized when he woke up was that his ankle was throbbing and seemed to be a million times worse than the night before. There was pain in his shin too but he couldn't tell whether that was because it was also broken or if it was the shooting pain from his ankle. It all felt the same. He found that he was still wet and shivering as well and the rain had not stopped at all. In fact, it only seemed to be coming down harder now in little ice cubes, freezing on contact.

Coughing and cringing in pain he managed to pull himself up to a sitting position as he gazed out at the icy landscape. The forest had transformed overnight and Deidara found that he didn't recognize it much at all. Snow and ice now covered everything and he couldn't tell what was what.

_Damnit…now what…_

Deidara honestly didn't know what to do. He knew that he couldn't go very far even if he wanted to as his condition prevented him from it. Even if he could he wouldn't know _where_ to go. He was completely lost. He didn't know which way he had come and had no idea as to which direction would lead him back.

_*Cough cough* _

_Ugh…what am I supposed to do? Where the hell could Sasori have gotten to? _

_*Cough cough* _

_Ohh…alright, think Deidara, think. I probably shouldn't stay here…but where to go? _

_*Cough*_

_ I need to _

_*Cough*_

_ Find _

_*Cough cough* _

_Sasori…._

_*Cough* _

_Ohhh….what the hell is wrong with me? And how the hell am I supposed to get out of here? _

_*Cough*_

_Ugh, at this rate I'll freeze to death before I even get five miles away! _

_*Cough cough* _

_Ohhh…._

Wincing, Deidara tried to get up but found that this time, his left leg wouldn't hold his weight at all so instead he collapsed, gasping in pain.

_D-damn…I can't even get up…huh? What's that…?_

Lifting his head up a bit Deidara could see something moving out in the white land. And, he sensed some chakra presences coming in his direction.

_Shit! I can't fight them at all! What am I going to do…ohhh…Sasori…please…hurry…_

* * *

On waking up Sasori noticed that the rain had not stopped. Grumbling a bit about the stupid weather he once again set off to look for his missing partner. He really didn't want to head into the woods. It was likely that most everything looked similar in there so it would be hard to get his bearings. And, in the event of a snowstorm, he could easily lose his sense of direction.

Nevertheless, Sasori headed in just hoping that this would be worth all the trouble in the end. Of course, as he had expected, he could find no signs of the blonde bomber when he entered the forest. And because it had been storming out anything that had been there was probably gone by now. Sasori wondered if Deidara had even gone that way. He didn't want to waste time searching somewhere that was just a dead end. But the ANBU had said Deidara ran off in this direction and, since Sasori hadn't found the blonde back in the gulley he assumed his partner had gotten out of it.

"Deidara! Brat, if you can hear me then answer!"

Sasori tried shouting out as he had done so often over the past couple of nights. And, like the other times, Deidara gave no answer. Sighing, Sasori walked on, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of the blonde.

He found himself growing increasingly worried for his partner though he would never have liked to admit it. He knew Deidara was pretty smart and would be able to take care of himself, of course, given the fact that he was alright. This is what worried Sasori the most. Akatsuki travelled in pairs for a reason. If one member was injured or sick the other could take care of them; except, it didn't work when partners got separated.

It especially didn't work when partners got separated and had no idea of knowing where the other was. Whether they were close or days apart, whether they were injured, and whether or not they were able to take care of themselves. Yes, Sasori knew the blonde could handle things, but last he knew Deidara was being chased by ANBU. Not just one or two but many.

Just then, Sasori sensed some chakra presences.

_Well, speak of the devil. _

Not exactly wanting to be sidetracked but knowing he might be able to get some information out of the tracker ninja he jumped out of Hiroku, put it away, then masked his chakra and hid behind a low bush. Presently, two groups of two ANBU each came out from opposites sides. Sasori waited to see just what they were going to do.

"Captain"

One of the ANBU with a wolf mask spoke stepping forward.

"We've received word from the other group that they have managed to clear the roadblock and move forward."

"The bad news?" The addressed asked.

"With the current weather conditions we're still a good day and a half from catching up with the others at least. And, if we don't hurry we will not be able to accomplish our mission as we are nearing the borders of the neighboring country." Wolf answered.

"How many did you send after him?"

"Ten"

"Shouldn't that be enough?"

"As I told you earlier, he was able to successfully evade and down nine of our group earlier."

"Your report also said that he was injured though."

"Yes. Still, he was able to get away. I believe we have a more fearsome enemy on our hands than we originally thought."

"True. Alright, let's go. We can't let Akatsuki escape."

"Well excuse me but I believe you mentioned something about Akatsuki?"

Sasori had enough. Patience was never a virtue of his and he had all he could take of the ANBU talking; though it really hadn't been too long.

Actually, he had been quite pleased when he heard them talking about Akatsuki since that was probably Deidara. After all he didn't know anyone else who was sent out on a mission this far. However, he didn't want them joining with their friends. If what the ANBU were saying was true then Deidara probably had to deal with his own set at the moment. And the ANBU said he was injured which most likely wasn't good though Sasori couldn't tell just by that if it was serious or not.

"Well then," Sasori began again. "Tell me where he is and I might feel like being generous."

_"Akatsuki!" _

Sasori heard one of the ANBU whisper while the others just stood, shocked in place.

"Look, I'm not a very patient person but I'll ask one more time. Where is the blonde Akatsuki?"

One of the ANBU looked like he wanted to say something but the leader quickly quieted him.

"What makes you think we would tell you, Akatsuki scum?"

_Oh well. I tried. _

"If that's the way you want it..." Sasori said and with that quickly whipped out a puppet scroll.

Before the ANBU even had time to react Sasori had taken out three of them and he had the fourth cornered.

"Look, your friends are poisoned and will die unless you can get them help. What's more I have the advantage. So I'll give you one more chance. Tell me where the blonde Akatsuki is and I'll let you go."

Sasori could sense the fear coming from the ANBU.

He glanced over at his companions then back at Sasori and finally said "North! A good ways north. You travel until you get to the roadblock then head west! The recon team said they last saw him near a cave or something!"

"Hn. How far?"

"I-I don't know! Fifty miles-sixty; it's a long way!"

"Fine" Sasori used the puppet to grab and fling the ANBU back towards the others. "Go. But next time I won't be so nice."

The ANBU nodded vigorously and quickly scrambled up to get his team and go. Sasori in the meantime started heading off in the direction the ANBU had told him.

_Just hang on Deidara…I'm coming…_

* * *

Gathering all the strength he could Deidara managed to get up and out of the cave, adrenaline pushing him past the pain. However it just wasn't enough. The ANBU were right up on him and he just couldn't make himself go any faster. He knew he didn't have the strength or the chakra to face the ANBU and that running away was his best option.

Eventually though, he came to a wall of snow and knew there was no way he was going to get around it. Panic set in though he didn't let it show as he turned to face his pursuers. There were ten ANBU surrounding him now and he was exhausted, out of chakra, wet, cold, and in pain. In short, he was fighting a losing battle.

As quick as he could Deidara pulled out as much clay as he could handle and began making many explosives, tossing them one right after the other at the opponents surrounding him. This kept the ANBU back for a while but Deidara knew he was quickly running out of what little chakra he had left. Suddenly, a pain wracked through his chest bringing him to his knees coughing.

"It's no use."

One of the ANBU spoke up.

"You can't handle us and you know it. Why try and prolong the inevitable?"

Deidara didn't answer as he coughed some more, blood spewing from between his fingers.

_A-ack…_

_*Cough cough cough* _

_Th-they're right _

_*Cough* _

_What am I_

_*Cough*_

_Going to _

_*Cough* _

_Do? _

_*Cough cough*_

Finally, able to get a handle on his coughing Deidara spoke in a ragged voice, "Maybe not. But I can take you down with me, un!"

"Tch, you can't even get up! You're pathetic. The only way you'd be able to get out is if you could fly. Oh well, time to die, Akatsuki" The ANBU scoffed.

Deidara smirked managing to pull himself up. That ANBU had just given him an idea.

_I only hope I have enough chakra left…_

"Fly eh? Well then…"

Deidara pulled out a small sculpture of a clay bird and quickly enlarged until it was just big enough for him. Gathering all his chakra in his legs he jumped up, landed on the bird, and took off, leaving the shocked ANBU behind.

_Ugh…this is taking so much out of me…Are they following?_

Looking back down, Deidara saw that the ANBU had indeed started to follow him on the ground. They probably assumed that he wouldn't go very far. Shaking his head, he urged the bird on as fast as he could make it go. He hoped that he could make it far enough so that the ANBU wouldn't follow him anymore, but he wasn't sure. He knew that it was only a matter of time before his body gave out and that unless something miraculous happened soon, his fate was sealed.

Deidara was able to fly for what seemed like hours to him but in reality was only about forty-five minutes. He realized then that he had to land or crash the bird. He looked back again and saw the ANBU following him but at a far distance. Landing, he figured he had ten minutes at best to think of something before they came. Still, it was better than nothing.

Coughing and wincing in pain as his feet touched the ground, Deidara surveyed the area around him. It was fairly open, with a few trees scattered on the edges. He must have found a clearing. Forcing chakra to his injured leg to help him stay up, he quickly got out some more clay and made a few tiny spider bombs, hiding them on various trees to explode later when he needed them. Then, the ANBU came.

It appeared as if Deidara had lost a few on the way there as there were now only six ANBU left. Still, dealing with even one or two was going to be hard enough for him at the moment though he was glad that some of them decided to leave.

"Well kid, it appears as if you're out of places to run. Why not just make this easier on yourself and submit to your fate? It will go a lot quicker, we promise."

"Tch, as if! I'm not finished yet, un!"

"Have it your way."

With that the battle began. The ANBU flung various sorts of weapons towards Deidara and they all had a variety of jutsu. Thankfully, Deidara noticed none of them seemed to possess a lightning nature or he would have been done with before the battle even started.

He managed to trick two of the tracker nins into a couple of the trees with hidden bombs and took them out that way. But after that the others realized what he was trying to do so that trick no longer worked. The ANBU also seemed to be close ranged attackers which worked in Deidara's favor as he preferred to fight long ranged.

Sending as many bombs as he could towards the remaining four ANBU Deidara starting backing up a bit to get a better grip on the situation. He was using C2; had been since the beginning and he was planning on trying a C3 bomb. It would probably take the rest of his chakra but if he did it right it would get rid of the rest of the ANBU.

In the confusion and smoke Deidara managed to leap up into a nearby tree and form a C3 explosive.

_Let's just hope this works…_

He flung the bomb in the direction of the ANBU. It exploded and the blast sent Deidara flying back a bit as well. As the smoke cleared he couldn't see or sense any chakra presences in the vicinity.

_Did it work?_

Suddenly, he felt something ram into his side, hard and he gasped as he was sent back into another tree coughing. Struggling to get up he glared at the ANBU who had just kicked him.

"Thought you got all of us, eh? Well, I'll admit that was pretty spectacular but you forgot to notice that I was nowhere near the target area. And now, I've got you!"

"What makes you so sure?"

Deidara's voice came out ragged.

"I've still got some left, un."

"Don't flatter yourself kid. You're out of chakra and we both know it. Now die!"

The ANBU flung a barrage of kunai towards Deidara. The blonde managed to dodge most of them but one scraped by his head drawing more blood out of a wound he had already received and knocking off his hitae-ate.

The ANBU jumped towards him, making a grab for him but only managed to get the blonde's battered Akatsuki cloak. Seeing his chance, Deidara turned and ran as fast as he could, despite the cold and the pain. The ANBU threw the cloak down in disgust and started to chase after Deidara, but stopped one the blonde got outside of the clearing on the opposite edge from where he had first come in.

"What? Not gonna chase me anymore? Thought you guys wanted me dead, un." He spoke, coughing.

"Tch, you'll be dead soon enough anyways." Was the ANBU's only response as he turned and went back in the opposite direction from Deidara.

Deidara was relieved to have gotten rid of the ANBU. But still, as soon as he saw the ANBU leave he took off running again. He didn't trust the ANBU not to come back since he didn't know what made the tracker ninja stop in the first place. All he knew was that he _needed_ to get as far away from that place as possible.

However, his body just wouldn't cooperate. He managed to go on for about half an hour, running at an incredible pace for his condition, but then, all at once he began to feel the pain come back and the adrenaline wear off. He was able to continue at a sort of half walk half run limping pace for yet another half an hour but after that he finally collapsed unable to go further.

He began coughing again as he felt his chest tighten in pain, spewing red blood on the crisp white snow.

_Ugh…damnit…I'm not…gonna make it….ugh…_

As darkness beckoned him, he thought he saw something off in the distance but his vision blurred and turned to black before he could even think about what it possibly could be.

* * *

Sasori cursed under his breath. He had been travelling all day and still had yet to come to any sort of "roadblock" or anything. The ninja had said it would take a while but Sasori hadn't expected it to take _this_ long. If there was one thing he hated most it was waiting. Patience just wasn't his thing.

The other thing was, it was still raining. Sasori didn't altogether mind it too much but since it was freezing rain it made travel that much more difficult. Also, he was forced to walk outside of Hiroku now since it kept slipping on the icy terrain. Sasori made a mental note to add some sort of grip to it when he got the chance but for now he was stuck walking, which was another thing he hated.

To be honest, he didn't hate walking in general but he did hate being without Hiroku. He liked being able to take out enemies with one swoop of the giant metal tail but if he couldn't use the puppet then he couldn't do that. Not that Sasori couldn't battle without Hiroku, it just wasn't preferred.

Sasori found his thoughts travel back to his blonde partner. He wondered if the other ANBU team had found him, what he was doing, and if he was alright…

_Well, not like I care. It would just be rather inconvenient if he's injured. That's all. _

Even so, Sasori couldn't help wondering. He didn't know what the blonde would do by himself if he had to face ten ANBU. Even Sasori wouldn't be able to handle that many alone.

Sighing, he noticed that night was coming on and began to pick up the pace a bit. He wanted to get as far as possible before having to stop because he really didn't want to be travelling that long come morning. He hoped that he was getting closer to Deidara as well since now that they were all the way out here they were going to have to travel all the way back for the mission.

The mission. He'd almost forgotten. He wondered if they had failed it already. After all, it sounded like they were supposed to meet someone there. And Sasori knew that they should have been in the village two days ago.

_Stupid brat having to go and get lost. Hopefully we can still complete the mission after this. But if we fail this…he's going to be sorry. _

Not that Sasori entirely blamed Deidara; after all, the weather had been rather harsh and they were being attacked. But still, he was kind of angry with the situation and also annoyed at having to travel so far to find his partner. There was also the argument he had with the blonde that was still bugging him in the back of his mind.

He was still trying to convince himself that the spat had been all Deidara's fault but he was somewhat worried that maybe Deidara had just decided not to come back because of it. Even though he thought it was the blonde's fault however, he still felt bad. And, given the chance, he would have gone and taken it all back. But there was nothing much he could do about that now. He supposed he was just going to have to apologize to the kid whenever he found him. Even though it was really Deidara's fault.

Suddenly, Sasori came to halt. He finally found what the ANBU had been talking about. There in front of him was the "roadblock," or, what was left of it. He saw that a large tree had fallen down taking a bunch of smaller trees with it and covering the path in ice and snow so that it had become impassable. It was impossible to go around it unless you wanted to travel a good ways out of your way to do so.

Now, the tree had been moved slightly; only making the passage wide enough for one person to go through. Moving closer to examine the tree Sasori smirked. Deidara had been pretty smart. He managed to cause the explosion at just the right place so that the trees could barely be moved without a great deal of effort. And, as Sasori had seen, even though the ANBU had been able to make a path it was very small and hard to get through. If there was more than one person that needed to pass it would take a while indeed.

Sasori was also glad that he had finally found some signs that his partner was around. It wasn't much to go off of but the roadblock had definitely been Deidara's work, Sasori could just tell. Which meant that the blonde had indeed come through which in turn meant that Sasori was getting closer. As he carefully passed through the path the ANBU had made he couldn't help feeling a little hopeful.

_That brat does have sense after all. And at this rate I should catch up to him pretty soon. _

Then, something hit Sasori. If the ANBU had made that path then they had been able to get through and probably chase Deidara. Of course, Sasori had known all along that there were some after his partner but the full meaning of this had just come to light.

If Deidara was being chased he had probably gone a lot farther than this. And, since Sasori knew the blonde was probably lost, he had no idea of knowing where Deidara would go. He knew the ANBU had said to travel west until he reached a cave but now he realized that Deidara would probably no longer be there. Frowning, he also remembered the ANBU saying that the blonde had been injured which wasn't a good thing. Especially when Deidara was being chased by more tracker nin.

As the darkness grew on, Sasori decided it was time to settle down for the night, his last thoughts being on his blonde partner.

* * *

There were many things Sasori hated. One of them was looking for blonde brats in the middle of a damn _snowstorm_ when he couldn't see anything.

He had been travelling for a few hours or so, heading west like the ANBU the day before had told him. Still, he had yet to find a cave of any sorts. That is, unless he didn't already miss it. It was too difficult to see anything in the stupid snow. He also still couldn't use Hiroku and that was annoying him to no end.

_Damn weather. Damn ANBU. Damn luck! Now where the hell is that cave? I'm getting sick of this._

Sasori didn't have to look much longer however because then, about a few yards ahead of him, he found what the ANBU had been talking about.

_Well finally._

Making his way over he hoped that he would find Deidara in there. At any rate, he hoped for at least something that would give him an idea of where the blonde had gone.

Entering the cave he called out, "Deidara! You in there?"

No response. Stepping inside a bit deeper he could find no sign of the blonde anywhere.

_Perfect. Now what?_

Sighing, he sat down to think for a moment and in doing so put his hand into something wet.

_Huh? What's this? …Blood…?_

Now Sasori was beginning to get a bit more worried.

If Deidara had been there then this proved he was injured. What was more; most of it had frozen which meant that Deidara had been there probably a day or so ago. Sasori allowed that maybe it wasn't Deidara. Maybe it was one of the ANBU instead but still, he couldn't shake the thought from his head. Trying to calm his thoughts Sasori began to think of what to do next.

He supposed he would wait until the storm let up a bit. Then he would go and continue on looking for the blonde. He didn't know how far behind he was and he had been hoping to find more clues but there was nothing. All he could do was hope that he was heading in the right direction and that Deidara would be able to take care of himself.

It took a while for the storm to let up; Sasori guessed hours though he really couldn't tell. Finally, after he knew he could at least see more than ten feet in front of him, he went out to begin his search again. For a long time he found nothing. Just more of the same landscape. If there were any footprints or anything left they were gone now courtesy of the snow and ice.

Eventually, Sasori made his way to a wall of snow.

_Damnit…dead end._

He was about ready to turn and backtrack when he noticed the ground around him seemed to be packed down a bit. Walking around the area he could see a few weapons poking out of the snow. It looked like there was a battle there or something.

Sasori then saw that there was a trail heading off in a direction to his right. He figured Deidara must have been able to get away and the ANBU that were after him followed. There must have been a good deal of tracker ninja since, though there were no footprints, the snow was packed down a bit making a sort of low trench.

Refreshed by this discovery Sasori headed down the trail hoping to come up on something more soon. However, it took him a long while. Eventually, he realized he was going to have to stop somewhere on the trail and continue his search in the morning as night was coming.

_Damn storm setting me back. Oh well, at least I'm finally getting somewhere. I hope Deidara's alright…that brat. I'm sure he's fine. If he was smart enough to get away from the ANBU he probably has something figured out. I shouldn't worry about him. _

* * *

_"Well, what have we here?"_

_..._

_"A kid...wait a minute..."_

_..._

_"This should be...interesting."_

_*Snap!*_

_"Hmph, someone's coming."_

_..._

_"That woman...hmm...Heh...heheh...I'll see you later kid."_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_._

_.._

_"Oh, oh my goodness!"_

* * *

Sasori swore when he finally found his partner he was going to give the blonde a piece of his mind. How quick could that kid travel? This was ridiculous. Sasori had been walking all morning along the trail and still had not happened on anything. He had a sneaking suspicion that Deidara had probably used a bird to fly and that's why it was taking him so long. That and the fact that the weather only kept getting worse. How many days had it been storming now? Three, four? He had lost count honestly. All he knew was that it was long enough and that if it didn't stop soon he might lose his mind.

Finally, _finally_, Sasori came to some sort of clearing and saw that there had been action there. Hoping that this wasn't going to lead him on more of a wild goose chase he stopped to examine the area. It seemed as if there had been some sort of a massive explosion and he knew Deidara had been there. Looking around a bit more he saw something sticking out of the snow and went to go examine it.

Upon reaching the object and pulling it out he almost gasped. It was the blonde's hitae-ate and it had a good deal of dried blood on it. Sasori knew Deidara would never just leave his hitae-ate on the ground; he barely even took it off! So he knew that whatever happened, it wasn't good.

"Deidara! Deidara! Are you around? Come on Deidara, don't play games! Where are you? DEIDARA!"

But there was no answer. Getting up and starting to look around a bit more he saw an Akatsuki cloak lying on the ground, covered in snow. Quickly he ran up to uncover it but Deidara was nowhere around. The cloak however, was torn, dirty, and bloodied. It had also been under the snow which meant Deidara had at least been without it for a few hours.

That wasn't good. Sasori knew the cloak, however ragged it may be was the only form of warmth for the blonde. It also meant that Deidara must have been in a hurry to get away since he left both the cloak and the hitae-ate.

Sasori didn't know what to think. This was bad. And he had no way of knowing where his partner had gone. Getting himself up he did the only thing he could. He started running forward, looking anywhere for the blonde and hoping that Deidara had only been careless with his things.

_Please Deidara…just be alright…_

* * *

_"Poor kid, he's really sick"_

_"I know, just look at him! He's burning up. Where was he?"_

_"I found him outside the village, collapsed like this."_

_"Just like this, not even a cloak or anything?"_

_"No, nothing. I think he may be a shinobi."_

_"Shinobi? There are none of them around here!"_

_"He doesn't look like he's from around here. And just look at his injuries! If he's not a shinobi then I don't know what could have happened."_

_"He's so young though. Do they even let kids be ninja?"_

_"I don't know…maybe."_

Deidara shifted a bit and felt himself shaking. He did not feel good at all. In his state of half consciousness he noticed he was lying on something soft and there was something covering his body.

_Where…am I…?_

He felt cold and his body hurt all over. A sudden pain wracked his chest and he burst out coughing. Someone came over to him and put a hand on his forehead.

"Shh, it's alright, shh."

Deidara cracked his eyes open and saw an older woman looking him over. There was another woman behind her who looked to be slightly younger.

"Nn… where …" Deidara was unable to finish his sentence as another coughing fit overcame him.

"Shh."

The woman tried to calm him.

"Don't talk. You're safe, that's all you need to know. Now, shh, just try and sleep."

Deidara only nodded and closed his eyes again, drifting off into an uneasy slumber.

_Sasori…where are you…?_

* * *

**A/N: And there we go! I don't generally do OC's but eh, this fic needed something. They won't be like, taking over the fic or anything though so don't worry. I just had to explain what happened to Deidara while Sasori was busy walking for two days. xD**_  
_

**Special thanks to my reviewers! :3  
**

**Please R&R!**


	4. Lost and Found

**UPDATED AGAIN 11/30/12! Yup yup...Like I said in chappie 3, there was an accidental upload of alternate cut chapters instead of fic chapters in this fic as I was editing. Silly me...u_u**

**UPDATED 11/29/12 A/N: Here's yet another updated chapter. Fixed grammy errs and, I don't think this chapter has many changes as far as story goes. **

**Original A/N: Ah, here's the next chapter! Sorry it took a little long; I got sick :P Well, hope it was worth the wait! I think this may be one of my favorite chapters so far :3**

**I don't own any of the characters in this fic except for the random people Deidara encounters!**

* * *

_**Mission Impossible**_

* * *

**Chapter Four: Lost and Found**

* * *

For some reason, Deidara felt he should be concerned with where he was, how, he got there exactly, and those women. His gut feeling was telling him there was really something off about the place and that he should high tail it out of there as soon as humanly possible, but really he was in too much pain to care. Even if he wanted to leave he probably couldn't considering his condition. Or, he wouldn't get very far at least.

Still, he had the unshakeable feeling that there was something wrong with the village, with these people. Make no mistake, he thought the people were nice enough, but there was something, something he just couldn't put his finger on, and it was telling him to be wary. Deidara liked to think he was just imagining things but whenever he felt this way he was never wrong. Never. And the sooner he listened to his common sense telling him to leave the better.

Mostly, he felt like he was constantly being watched, but by who or what he didn't know. He wondered if these people really knew who he was and were only putting on a mask of kindness to trick him later. On the other hand, he wondered if it was something entirely different. He was so unsure. Maybe it was just imagined.

Shifting his position a bit he stared up blankly at the ceiling. He wasn't sure how long he had been here or how long he had been unconscious for that matter. He wasn't even sure how long he had been awake for though he assumed it had been at least a couple of hours. Any sense of time he had was lost. He didn't even remember what had happened really. All he really knew was that he had been chased by someone or something then, he somehow ended up in this place.

Deidara hadn't totally forgotten everything; bits and pieces would come back every now and again but it was a slow process and he still couldn't rightly remember what he had been doing. The women didn't seem to know much either. The first time he had been fully conscious they only told him they found him outside the village, unconscious. They had stayed in the room for a while but then left after they assumed he was asleep. He hadn't really been asleep; he just wanted to sort out his thoughts in silence.

Deidara was beginning to wonder what the hell had happened to Sasori. He didn't really remember what had happened but the women had told him he was the only person they found. Apparently, he was without his hitae-ate and Akatsuki cloak as well because when he tried asking them about it they just looked really confused.

Glaring up at the ceiling as if it was responsible for all these problems, Deidara tried to focus and think. Kami, his chest hurt so much. It hurt enough to breathe, let alone think. Moaning, he shifted his position again and coughed a bit. Whatever had happened, he was in a real fix. On top of everything else there was a throbbing pain in his left ankle which alerted him to the fact that it was probably broken and that he probably couldn't use it very well. If only he could just remember…

Coughing again, he felt himself shaking. Where _was_ Sasori? Did he know Deidara was gone? What had happened? Weren't they on a mission for Pein? Suddenly, it all came back to him.

_*Cough cough*_

_ That's right…we were on that mission that didn't have a lot of information…and then _

_*Cough* _

_Hn…we fought…Sasori and I…I wonder…_

_*Cough cough* _

_He's probably still mad at me…Ugh…then we got separated in that storm and the fight with the ANBU…they chased me…_

_*Cough* _

_But then they stopped…_

_*Cough cough*_

_And now I'm here…_

_*Cough cough*_

_Ugh…_

_*Cough* _

_Everything _

_*Cough* _

_Hurts _

_*Cough* _

_So much _

_*Cough cough*_

_ …Someone…_

_*Cough* _

_Just…_

_*Cough* _

_Make it stop…_

_*Cough cough* _

Deidara felt his chest spasm in pain as a coughing fit overcame him. Bringing a hand up to his mouth he felt warm blood trickling between his fingers. He heard someone enter the room and walk quickly to the bed. The person put a hand to his forehead and wiped away the tears spilling over his cheeks as they tried to soothe him with words he just couldn't make out.

Eventually, the coughing calmed down and Deidara felt he could breathe, if only slightly, again. It was then he really noticed the woman who had come into the room. She was tracing her hand lightly over his forehead as she tried to calm him.

"Shh, shh, it's alright. You're going to be alright, shh."

Deidara moaned a bit and shut his eyes tight, trying to block out the stabbing pain in his chest.

He heard the woman shuffle around a bit and slowly he opened his eyes again to see what she was doing.

"Here"

She lifted his head up a bit and pressed a small glass with some thick liquid in it to his lips.

"Drink it." She said soothingly.

Slowly, he downed the medicine as the woman held him up. She then laid him back down again and set the glass on a table next to the bed.

He wanted to ask her questions but his head was spinning and his chest throbbing.

"Th-thank you…un…" Was all he managed to say.

"Oh, don't worry about it honey. You just focus on resting and getting better, alright?"

"Nn…kay…" He answered nodding.

She smiled lightly and put her hand back on his forehead. Realizing how warm he was she muttered something to herself and, taking a cloth out of a bowl that must have been on the table, she placed it over his head.

Deidara shivered suddenly at the touch, gasping a bit. He was so cold. The woman seemed to understand as she pulled the blankets up closer around him and smoothed them out.

"I know, I know it hurts honey. It will help, trust me. Just rest."

Deidara only nodded again slightly as he closed his stinging eyes and drifted off once more.

* * *

Deidara woke up to the sounds of a somewhat muffled conversation coming from outside the door. He blinked a couple of times as he tried to focus his vision and slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. He didn't know how long he had been asleep for but he was starting to feel a bit better. At any rate, the pain in his chest seemed to have receded a bit.

_Crash!_

The sound of something falling heavily to the ground followed by a loud shout almost made Deidara jump. His ninja instinct wanted him to stealthily investigate what the hell had just happened but common sense said otherwise. Instead he just leaned back and sighed, trying to figure out what he was going to do.

Just then, the door quickly flew open and was shut just as fast as a woman with long brown hair and average height entered. Deidara recognized her as the same woman from before. He could tell by looking at her that she was older than him but not so old. She was probably in her late twenties or thirties.

She turned to face him and seemed slightly surprised that he was awake. Making her way over to the bed she asked, "How are you feeling honey?"

"Better than before. Um, what was that noise outside, un?"

A look of panic passed so quickly over her face that Deidara would not have been able to tell it was there had he not been trained to notice such things.

But it was soon replaced by a gentle smile as she said, "Oh, nothing you need to worry about. I just dropped something is all."

"Oh"

The woman then took his wrist to check his pulse and after a minute dropped it and moved her hand to his forehead.

"Um, excuse me miss, but I feel kind of bad not knowing your name…un…"

Partially true at least. Mostly, he just wanted to know more about the place.

"Oh, silly me! I'm Naoko Matsuoka. What's yours honey?"

"Deidara, un"

"No surname?"

Deidara shook his head. He really didn't feel like explaining that right now.

"Well then, you're not from around here, are you? Where are your parents?"

"Dead, un."

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

"You didn't know, un."

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen, un."

"Then…how did you get here?"

"Um, I'm not sure really. I'm a shinobi. My partner and I were on a mission and…oh wait, I still need to find my partner…un…"

"So you are a shinobi then…" Naoko said more to herself than to Deidara.

Aloud she asked, "What happened to your partner? Did you lose him?"

"Yeah, in a storm, I think…I have to find him…soon…I have to find him soon…"

"Well, hold on a minute. You can't go anywhere just yet; you need to rest some more."

"Hn"

"You're in no condition to get up even." She continued, "Really, you need to just-"

"Naoko-san?" Deidara interrupted.

"What is it?"

"How long have I been asleep for, un?"

"About a day."

"No, I mean after you found me, un."

"Oh, five days…"

_Damn, that's almost a week. Sasori's going to kill me!_

"That's…a long time…un…" He answered and coughed a little.

"You were pretty sick, still are really. You're only just recovering."

Deidara nodded mutely and coughed a bit more. Naoko handed him a small glass of medicine which he drank and handed back to her.

At that moment the door opened and another woman came in. She seemed to be quite a few years older than Naoko and had the same brown hair as the younger woman only with a few light strands of gray here and there.

"Well Naoko-chan, how's our patient?"

"He's awake now, aunt."

The older woman made her way over and sat down beside the bed, looking Deidara over.

"How are you feeling child?"

"I'm fine…un…"

"How's that cough?"

"Um, better. My chest still hurts a bit though, un."

"Hmm…well, at least there's improvement. Are you hungry at all?"

"I guess…"

_Not really, but it wouldn't hurt to eat something I suppose…_

"Naoko, go get him something."

"Yes ma'am." The younger woman answered, then got up and left.

Turning back to Deidara the other asked, "What's your name?"

"Deidara, un"

"No surname?"

_Déjà vu_

"No"

"Well Deidara-kun, I'm Yumi Takenaka, and you've already met my niece, Naoko" Deidara nodded. "Now that that's out of the way, do you have any family or relatives that will be looking for you?"

"No"

"No parents or anything?"

"No"

"You don't live around here do you?"

"No"

"Then where is your family?"

"Dead"

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Deidara mentally rolled his eyes. He didn't know why people always had to ask the same damn questions. He was getting tired of it.

"How did you get out here?"

"I'm a shinobi."

"Well, Naoko was right then. Where do you come from?"

Deidara shifted a little uncomfortably.

"Iwagakure" He answered hesitantly.

"Iwa? That's a ways away. What would you be sent on a mission here for?"

"Um, well, I'm not really sure. I just take missions kinda, un."

"Hm, did they at least send you with a team?"

"Well, um, I have a partner…but I don't know where he is…I need to find him."

Yumi made a clicking noise and muttered something about irresponsible ninja. Just then, Naoko reentered the room with a steaming bowl in her hands.

"Here you go." She said handing the bowl to Deidara.

"Thanks, un"

As Deidara ate, Yumi and Naoko talked quietly between each other. When he finished, Naoko came and took the bowl from him.

"Now you just rest, alright?" She said.

Deidara just nodded and the two left the room.

After they had left Deidara sat up again and tried to sort everything out. He still wanted to leave as soon as possible. Even though Yumi and Naoko had seemed nice enough he still believe there was something wrong with the place. And he really needed to find Sasori sooner rather than later.

He was sure his partner was angry with him. After all, not only had Deidara gone and gotten lost but he was probably still upset about the fight. Thinking back, Deidara wondered if he should even bother trying to find Sasori again. The puppet might actually be glad to be rid of the blonde; at least he wouldn't have to keep track of Deidara or deal with him anymore.

But they still had their mission and Deidara couldn't go back to Akatsuki without Sasori. This meant that if he didn't find his partner he had nowhere to go and, in that case, he might as well stay where he was, though, he still didn't like the place. It just had a bad aura or something.

No, he would look for Sasori. The puppet master might be angry with Deidara but really, what other choice did he have. He was _not _staying here, hell no. And he couldn't go anywhere else really. Besides, if he tried to get away from Akatsuki then they might go after him. You never know with Akatsuki after all.

So now, the question was how to get out unnoticed. Deidara wasn't entirely sure how this was going to work. He knew those two women probably wouldn't let him leave for a while which was a problem. He would be willing to stay maybe one more day but no more than that. In fact, he would have preferred to leave at that very moment if he could but that was impossible. He could sneak out…yes, that would work. He was a shinobi after all, an S-class shinobi at that. And who were these people? Just random villagers? He should be able to easily get past them even though he wasn't at his best.

Looking around the room he found a window. He could get out that. It wasn't very big but then his smaller frame could probably squeeze through it. Now, where had all his weapons gone? He decided to get up and look around for them.

Pushing himself up off the bed he started getting up but winced as pain went up through his left leg. He remembered that he had injured his ankle and that maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all.

_No, I have to do this. The pain's not so bad…I can deal…ugh…I'm going to have to. Ow…_

Limping a bit he started looking around the room for his things and soon found them in the closet. He also found a large black cloak. It was rather big for him but he figured he should take it with him, remembering the weather outside. He almost felt bad about it; Naoko and Yumi had been pretty nice, but when it came to taking the cloak or freezing to death he chose the former. He began making his way back to the bed deciding that he would get some rest and then leave early the next morning before anyone was up. But, as he passed the door, he heard the women talking with someone else about something that caught his ear.

Normally, he didn't care to listen in on people's conversations but he thought they had mentioned something about him and his interest was piqued. That and the fact that he wanted to find out any information he could about this place. So, silently, he made his way to the door and put his ear to it.

"I'm telling you, that blonde is bad news." A masculine voice said. "Where is he from anyways?"

"Iwa" That was Yumi.

"Well then, what's he doing all the way out here? Ninja don't generally come this far on missions. This all sounds rather shady to me."

"But uncle, he's just a kid. And besides that he's sick and injured. He needs help."

"I don't care about that Naoko. He may only be a kid but he could still be a threat. I heard the ANBU from the bordering country were looking for a rogue ninja."

"Did those ANBU describe exactly who they were looking for?"

"They didn't have much but they did say it was a young shinobi travelling alone. And Yumi, they said it was an Akatsuki they were tracking."

"Akatsuki?! Goodness, you don't really think that boy is an Akatsuki, do you uncle? Besides, he said he had a partner…"

"I don't know for sure but he may very well be. And while he _says _he has a partner there's none to be found. You can never be too careful."

"What do you want to do about it then Rikuto? We can't just turn him out. Naoko's right, he's too sick to go anywhere."

"I'm going to talk to him at least. If he is Akatsuki we can just hand him over to the ANBU. If he's not then there's nothing to worry about."

Deidara heard some shuffling and started to move away from the door but then he heard Naoko say, "Wait uncle. Let him rest for now. He really is sick; you can ask him later. Please?"

"Fine. But this day doesn't end without me having a conversation with him."

Deidara had heard enough. He had to leave. _Now._ If they found out he was really Akatsuki they would make the ANBU come back. And he really didn't want to have to deal with the ANBU. Plus, he would probably never be able to find Sasori then. His chances were already slim enough.

Forgetting the pain in his ankle momentarily, he quickly and quietly made his way back to the closet and brought out his things. Having prepared everything, he made his way to the window and looked on the room one more time.

_I'm sorry Naoko, Yumi. I have to go…sorry._

With one final glance back he shoved open the window and made his way out, landing on the hardened snow below.

Forcing chakra down to his injured leg he ran off, out of the village. He didn't know where he was going but at the moment he didn't care. He needed to get far enough away from that place before they found out he was gone. Once that was done he could find a place to sit down and _think _for a moment.

_Alright Sasori, we'll be able to finish that mission after all. _

* * *

If Sasori had a penny for every time he was forced to wait or do something that required patience for his blonde partner, then he would have a lot of pennies. Sasori had been walking for a good few hours at least and now, because of the storm, he had been forced to wait in a cave for the past four days. The storm had gotten so bad that he couldn't see two feet in front of him. There was no possible way he could find Deidara in conditions like those so the only thing he could do was wait for the storm to run its course. Unfortunately for Sasori the storm had decided to stick around for a few days.

Sasori hated waiting. In fact it was probably right up there with travelling without Hiruko and having blonde brats "accidentally" bomb his puppets beyond repair. This time, he had still a greater reason to be angry with the delay. Though he would never admit it he was very worried about his partner. Deidara had left behind his cloak and his hitae-ate which meant he was in a rush. Both the items had a fair amount of blood on them and what was more, Sasori was worried the blonde would freeze without any form of warmth.

The other thing Sasori knew was that unless Deidara had found some place to stay he was probably dead by now. The storm was too much and if he was injured…No, Sasori refused to think of that. Deidara was probably fine. The kid was smart after all, he'd be alright. Still, this didn't keep Sasori from worrying about him.

Sasori walked in silence for another hour or so, keeping an eye out for any signs of his partner. Quite honestly, he didn't know where to look. After he had found the blonde's stuff there had been no more clues as to where Deidara could have gone. He simply had been going in the direction that he best guessed Deidara would have gone. But he hadn't found the blonde and he was beginning to get rather annoyed. And, if he hadn't been so worried about his partner he might have been pretty angry with Deidara at the moment. Still, he wasn't sure whether to be mad or pleased when he finally found the kid.

As Sasori trudged on he noticed a village in the distance. Figuring that Deidara might have gone through there he decided to swing by and see if he could find anything. The first he noted on coming into the village was that it was rather small. Good for him since that meant if Deidara had come here, then, most everyone would probably know about it. The second thing he noticed was that there didn't seem to be a whole lot of people out at the time. Sasori didn't blame them much. It was still snowing, albeit lightly, which made it uncomfortable for them to be out probably. Being a puppet, Sasori didn't really care about such things but normal humans would he knew. However, he did manage to find one shop open and entered it hoping to find some news about his partner.

"Excuse me," He said to the shop owner. "Do you know if a blonde shinobi has been through this village at all?"

The shop owner looked Sasori over. He seemed to be taking in the stranger's odd appearance before finally answering, "I heard one of the families here found a kid outside the village who may or may not be a shinobi. Haven't seen him myself though. Why do you ask?"

"I'm looking for my partner. We were separated during a mission. Who is this family and where can I find them?"

"The Takenaka's. They're in that small house in the north end of the village. Ask anyone; they'll tell you."

"Hn, thanks." Sasori said and turned to leave.

"Oh and one more thing…"

Sasori stopped short.

"I heard a rumor that the kid might actually be an Akatsuki. Apparently some ANBU from the neighboring country were chasing one around so be careful!"

Sasori nodded mutely and left. The irony. Of course everyone knew who Akatsuki was but apparently not everyone knew of Akatsuki's trademark cloaks. At any rate, he headed off to where the shopkeeper had told him hoping to find something. Reaching the house he was about ready to knock on the door when he heard something that caught his attention. Deciding to listen in for the time being, he instead waited, unmoving outside the door.

"…the ANBU from the bordering country were looking for a rogue ninja." He heard a masculine voice say.

"Did those ANBU describe exactly who they were looking for?" Someone else, sounded like a woman to Sasori, said.

"They didn't have much but they did say it was a young shinobi travelling alone. And Yumi, they said it was an Akatsuki they were tracking."

_Deidara. _

"Akatsuki?! Goodness, you don't really think that boy is an Akatsuki, do you uncle? Besides, he said he had a partner…" Another female but this one had sounded younger than the first.

"I don't know for sure but he may very well be. And while he _says _he has a partner there's none to be found. You can never be too careful."

_It has to be him. _

"What do you want to do about it then Rikuto? We can't just turn him out. Naoko's right, he's too sick to go anywhere."

_Sick?_

"I'm going to talk to him at least. If he is Akatsuki we can just hand him over to the ANBU. If he's not then there's nothing to worry about."

"Wait uncle. Let him rest for now. He really is sick; you can ask him later. Please?"

"Fine. But this day doesn't end without me having a conversation with him."

Sasori was convinced. If that wasn't Deidara then he didn't know who it could be. He debated whether or not trying to talk to the family or just scout around the house for any sign of the blonde. He didn't really want to talk to the people and besides, it seemed as if the male was already suspicious of Deidara. He wasn't sure how his appearance would affect that. But then, they had said the kid was ill. Sasori wondered how bad he was… Maybe he should just go talk to the people anyways.

However, in the end, he opted for looking around and if he couldn't find anything, then he would ask the family. The house was small enough where Sasori could just look into one of the windows and see the entirety of one room so he didn't think it would take him too long.

Rounding the house he made his way to the back and was slightly surprised to see an open window. He then saw some faint footprints in the snow leading away from the village. Curiosity raised, Sasori looked in through the window but saw nothing. The only thing he noted was that someone must have been in the room earlier since it looked like the bed had been used. Then, it hit him. Deidara had probably run off. Why he couldn't tell unless…

Deidara must have overheard the conversation as well and knew that his time was limited. Sasori also didn't know what had happened in the previous days; maybe Deidara had an even further reason to leave so quickly. At any rate, he quickly began following the tracks. He wanted to find Deidara before the snow could cover the footprints completely. It was already beginning to do so.

Sasori knew the blonde couldn't have gotten too far. If he left as soon as he heard the end of the conversation that gave him what, maybe a fifteen to twenty minute head start? Deidara was fast but Sasori should be able to catch up to him…hopefully. Unless he decided to start flying…but no, Deidara wouldn't do that. He would wait until he was a fair distance from the village so that no-one could see him if he did that. Sasori could only hope that he was fast enough to catch up with the blonde.

Suddenly, as he was running, he felt five chakra presences in the vicinity.

_ANBU? How did they get here? Shit, I don't have time for this. _

Sasori masked his chakra and kept running, hoping the ANBU hadn't noticed him. Unfortunately, they had and he felt them closing in. Grumbling to himself he stopped to turn and face them.

"Well, I'm pretty sure this isn't the Akatsuki we were after but it won't hurt to get another one." One of the ANBU said.

"Yeah!" Another started. "That blonde one should be easy enough to get anyways. Let's take this one as well!"

"I'll have you know…" Sasori began, "That I'm not in a very good mood right now. I don't think you'll be taking anyone today."

"We'll see about that, now won't we?!"

The ANBU cried. Sasori cursed under his breath. Quickly whipping out couple of puppet scrolls he got ready to face his opponents.

Half an hour later, Sasori smirked as the last ANBU collapsed, dead. However, he had lost a good half hour of time. Who knows where Deidara could have gotten to by now? Besides that, those damn ANBU had to go and ruin two of his puppets. He was going to have to fix them later, after he found Deidara.

Muttering under his breath he turned and set off at a running pace, following what was left of the quickly fading tracks.

_Come on Deidara, just stop for a moment or something! I don't want to be on a wild goose chase forever!_

* * *

Deidara was beginning to think that maybe it was not such a good idea to leave so soon. His ankle hurt and the pain in his chest was beginning to come back as well. All at once an overwhelming feeling of nausea overcame him and he had to stop. He was probably far enough from the village at this point anyways; he'd been running for at least an hour.

Sinking down to a sitting position with his back to a tree he tried to think. To be quite honest, he wasn't really sure what he should be doing next. He had a feeling that all this running wasn't accomplishing anything and also that with every step he took he was actually getting farther from Sasori.

But then, what could he do? As a sharp wind blew through the trees, Deidara shivered. The cloak he had taken, while it was better than nothing, was still thin compared to the Akatsuki cloak. And while he was used to a cold climate, he felt colder since he was sick.

Vaguely, he wondered what had happened to the ANBU who he thought were following him earlier. He had noticed their chakra presences but didn't want to stop until he absolutely had to. Then, all at once, they stopped following him. Either he had imagined it, or they had just decided to stop for whatever reason. Deidara shook his head. ANBU could be really stupid sometimes.

Another gust of wind blew through making Deidara's teeth chatter which caused him to wrap the oversized cloak around his thin frame even tighter. A wave of nausea hit him again which caused him to groan in pain. Coughing a bit, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

_Damn, what do I do? I don't know where Sasori is or how to find him…I'll just…rest here for a bit…_

"Hey mister!"

Deidara's eyes popped open as he looked around for whoever had just spoken to him. Eventually his eyes landed on a boy who appeared to be no more than six or seven years of age. The boy was staring at Deidara intently and looking him over.

"Whatcha' doing?"

Deidara blinked a few times.

_Where the hell did this kid come from?_

"Resting, un" He replied.

The boy giggled a bit.

"What, un?"

"You talk funny."

Normally, this would have made Deidara really upset but he just didn't feel like it at the moment so instead he just narrowed his eyes at the kid, still trying to figure out where the boy had come from.

"Are you a shinobi?" He asked suddenly. "Cuz nobody travels out this far; you must be a shinobi."

"Yeah I guess…un…"

"Thought so. Hey, you look cold. Wanna come with me?"

Deidara blinked again. He didn't know why this kid was acting so sociable, but he didn't really want to move.

"I'm fine, un"

"Are ya sure? You don't look too well."

"I'm…fine…un…" Deidara answered, trying to keep from shivering.

"Come on." The boy said tugging at his cloak. "You don't have to stay long; just enough to warm up a bit. Kasan and I never have any visitors anyways cuz we live out in the middle of the woods and it gets kinda boring. Please?"

Sighing, Deidara shook his head.

"Why not?" The boy whined. "Are you waiting for someone or something?"

"Something like that…un."

The boy opened his mouth to say something but just then a large black bear came into view, only about a few yards away from where Deidara was. The boy looked over at the bear then back at Deidara, fear visible in his face. Deidara wasn't worried about the thing; as long as they were quiet enough it should just leave them alone. However, he wasn't so sure the kid knew this.

"Come here." He whispered in a commanding tone to the boy.

Nodding, the kid started to make his way towards Deidara but accidentally stepped on stick which made a loud_ snap_. The bear stopped what it was doing and started to look around. The kid froze in place, stiff with fear.

"Don't. Move." Deidara hissed.

The boy didn't but the bear started to come closer to investigate. For a minute, the kid was silent, but when the bear stepped closer, he screamed.

_Damnit! _

The bear, startled at the sudden noise, reared up suddenly and prepared to attack. Before it could however, Deidara jumped up and grabbed the kid out of the way just missing the swipe of the bear's sharp claws. Landing a few feet away from the animal, Deidara quickly grabbed out a couple of kunai and flung them towards the bear. They hit their mark accurately and the bear let out a low growl before falling over, dead.

Deidara sank down to his knees, exhausted from even that small amount of effort.

"Wow, you're so fast!" The boy exclaimed. "I thought I was a goner but you can move even faster than anyone I've ever seen! That's amazing! Hey mister, are you alright?"

Deidara was on his hands and knees now, shaking with cold. His ankle throbbed and he could feel his chest tightening again.

"I…uh…ah…nn…" He tried to respond but started coughing instead.

"Hey, you really don't look so good. Can you get up?"

Getting a handle on himself Deidara nodded and shakily stood up.

"Good. Come on!" The boy said tugging at his cloak again. "My name's Akio by the way."

"Deidara, un."

"Well, arigato gozaimus Deidara-san!"

"Hn" Deidara nodded back at the kid. "Look, I can't stay long…"

"Oh, no problem, just come in for a bit. I want kasan to meetcha!"

Pretty soon, the two came to a small house. The boy entered, dragging Deidara behind and shouted out "Kasan! I'm back! Look what I found!"

"Akio," A woman's voice called back. "What have I told you about bringing-oh, hello." A younger woman with shoulder length black hair and dark brown eyes came into view. She seemed a little surprised at seeing Deidara.

"Kasan, he's a shinobi. He saved me from a bear. He's amazing! You should see! His name's Deidara."

The woman laughed lightly. Turning towards Deidara she said, "You look cold, come in and sit down."

Nodding, Deidara entered and sat down at the low table in the center of the room. Akio then proceed to tell the woman all about how he had found Deidara and the bear. The woman listened while a light smile played on her lips as she moved around the kitchen area.

When he had finished the woman said, "Akio, why don't you go out and play behind the house for a bit while I talk with our visitor."

"'Kay." The boy answered and skipped out.

"Deidara, was it?" The woman said turning to face him. "I'm Keiko. Thank you, for saving my son, sorry if we've caused you any trouble!"

Deidara muffled a cough and waved his hand. "Don't worry about it, un"

Keiko set down a steaming mug of tea in front of him. "Here, this will warm you up a bit."

"Thanks, un." Deidara answered as he slowly began drinking the tea.

"So, you're a shinobi?"

"Yes"

"Do you have a mission around here or something?"

"Yeah; I'm waiting for my partner, un."

"Oh?"

"We were separated in a storm…" Deidara trailed off coughing a bit.

"Are you alright Deidara-san? You don't look too well…"

"I'm…fine…"

He coughed some more and then stood up.

"I should go now…I don't want to keep my partner waiting…un…"

"Are you sure you can't stay any longer? You look like you could use some rest."

"Yes, I need to go. Thank you…un."

"Don't mention it, I should be thanking you! If you ever pass through here again then you're quite welcome to drop by!"

"Thanks, I won't forget, un" He said and exited the building.

Akio was in the front playing with something.

"Aw, are you going already?" He asked Deidara.

The blonde nodded.

"Aw, too bad…well, thanks! See ya later!"

Deidara raised his hand in a sort of half wave.

"Later, un"

Then he turned and started walking back to where the kid had first found him. To be honest, the short break had helped him. Still, he was back to shivering again. Night was beginning to fall and the temperature outside was only decreasing. Making his way back to his spot, he stopped for a moment before deciding to continue on a little further. After about thirty minutes of travel however, he started to feel the nausea come back and his head began to spin. Sinking down and wrapping the cloak around him as tight as he could he laid back, closed his eyes, and started to drift off.

_I'll just…figure out what to do….when I wake up…_

* * *

As night started to come on, Sasori cursed under his breath. He did not want to go another day without finding Deidara. It had already been almost two weeks since they had been separated. He decided to travel a bit more and see if could find anything before it became too dark.

All at once he saw a small house with smoke coming out of the chimney appear in front of him. He decided he would check and see if anyone in there had seen anything of his partner. He doubted it, but then again you never could tell.

Making his way to the door he knocked.

"Coming!"

He heard a woman's voice call out. The door opened.

"Oh, hello. What can I do for you?" She asked politely.

"I'm looking for someone, a young blonde shinobi. You wouldn't have happened to see him around, would you?"

"Why yes, in fact I did! Are you his partner? He was here not more than an hour or so ago."

"Yes, I'm his partner. Did he say where he was going?"

"He didn't but I believe he headed off in that direction." The woman said waving her hand northward.

"Thank you."

"No problem! Hope you find him soon!" She said as Sasori headed off.

_Well, at least I know he came this way now. _

Sasori started in the direction the woman had told him. He quickly picked up his pace as night was coming on faster now and it had started snowing again. After about a half hour of travelling his work finally paid off.

"Deidara!"

* * *

**A/N: Well, I wanted to add more but I think it was getting a little long so, next chapter! Also, don't bother trying to find any meaning out of the names of the OCs; I simply used a random name generator for that :P**

**And yeah...we're assuming this a few years before Sasori dies which is why Deidara is younger than the official age...  
**

**Hurray for cliffhangers...xD  
**

**A big thank you to all of my reviewers! You guys give me a reason to keep on writing!  
**

**Please R&R!**


	5. Trouble

**UPDATED AGAIN 11/30/12: Yeah, here's the real chapter 5...the alternate cut was more humorous and less serious...which was fine...but this fic is kinda more serious :P u_u**

**UPDATED 11/29/2012 A/N: Well, another changey...:3**

**Original A/N: Yay, 5th chappie! xD I have no end of inspiration for this fic...I have a feeling it may end up being longer than I originally thought o_0**

**Well, I'm getting tired of saying this but, I don't own any of the characters in the fic except the random OCs xPPP  
**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

_**Mission Impossible**_

* * *

**Chapter Five: Trouble**

* * *

"Deidara!"

Sasori shouted, running up to where the blonde was. He didn't respond so Sasori tried again.

"Deidara! Brat! Answer me!"

He was slightly angered when Deidara still didn't respond but the anger was mitigated once he saw that the blonde was sleeping. Also, upon reaching the blonde, he noted that Deidara found a cloak somewhere and this slightly relieved him. At least the kid hadn't been freezing the whole time.

"Brat, get up!"

He said but Deidara didn't move.

"Deidara…" He nudged the blonde with his foot. "Wake up!"

Sasori was beginning to get slightly annoyed. Sure Deidara was sleeping but he had been searching for the blonde for two weeks and now that he finally found the kid he wanted to talk to him.

"DEIDARA!" He shouted closer to the kid. "Wake up!"

Deidara shifted a bit and slowly began waking up. He seemed confused at first but when he realized Sasori was there he shot up.

"Sasori-danna!"

"Brat"

"You found me, un."

"Well you didn't exactly make it easy. What the hell were you thinking running off like that?"

"Sorry…I didn't mean to…un." He said looking away.

Sasori didn't really blame Deidara, but he was still a little angry.

"Try and _think_ next time idiot."

"Sorry…I'm sorry…uh, Sasori-danna?"

"What?" He said, maybe a little too harshly.

"Um, I'm sorry…for that night…un…"

_Does he think I'm still upset about that?_

"Forget it brat. Just don't go off anywhere anymore. Understand?"

The words came out sounding harsher than Sasori had intended and he almost instantly regretted it.

"Yeah…" Deidara said as he suddenly seemed very interested with something on the snowy ground.

Still, even though he didn't exactly want to make the blonde feel bad, he was angry. It was just, he had been looking for a long time and he wasn't exactly the patient sort.

"You don't know how long I've been looking for you!" He went on. "I leave you alone for a couple minutes and you go and get yourself lost. Very lost. Honestly Deidara, how can you even be a shinobi if you lose yourself so easily? Did you even think to go and try the other way? Did you? What were you thinking? I swear I can't leave you alone for a second! And-brat are you listening? Deidara?"

For the first time he noticed his partner was shaking with the cold and also that he looked pale. Suddenly he remembered what he had heard about Deidara being sick at that house and he felt bad for yelling at the blonde.

"Deidara, are you-"

He was cut off by Deidara flipping himself over and vomiting up whatever he had last eaten, which wasn't a lot, onto the snow. His eyes widened a bit.

"Deidara…"

"S-sorry d-danna…un." He said recovering his breath.

But then, he started coughing, violently. Wordlessly, Sasori moved a hand to the blonde's forehead and realized he was burning.

He felt really bad now; Deidara was really sick and all he had done was yell at the kid. Maybe the reason the blonde was unable to find his way back was because he had been ill. And then the ANBU had been chasing him. He had some apologizing to do.

Deidara was still coughing. Sasori began rubbing small circles in the kid's back to help ease the coughing. It was then he noticed the blood leaking from between the blonde's fingers.

"Deidara…" He said and began to pry his partner's hands from his mouth as he pulled out a cloth.

"Cough into this…"

Deidara only nodded and obliged as Sasori continued to rub circles in his back. Eventually, the coughing subsided. Sasori pulled the cloth away and quickly examined it. It was covered in blood and some other sort of thick substance. Deidara was breathing in short rasps now.

"Deidara."

The blonde turned to face him. He looked like hell.

"How long have you been sick?"

"A-a while…un."

"Do you know how long exactly?"

The kid shook his head.

"Do you remember when it started?"

"T-the day a-after we got s-separated…after I w-went to get s-some more c-clay…un."

He was shaking a bit now and tried to wrap his cloak closer to his body.

_That was a while ago…_

"Did you go in the water or something?"

Deidara nodded and coughed. Sasori grabbed his wrist and checked his pulse releasing it a minute later. Just as he thought, it was beating rapidly.

"Does it hurt to breathe?"

The blonde nodded again. Sasori rubbed his head.

_Damnit…this better not be what I think it is…_

Sasori tried to think. He needed to get Deidara out of the elements and somewhere he could examine the kid better. But there wasn't really any place close enough and nighttime had fallen.

_Well, we should at least get out of this place and somewhere more sheltered. I thought I passed something nearby…we'll go there for now._

"Come on Deidara" Sasori said getting up "We need to get you someplace else"

As he said this he held out his arm to the blonde. Deidara shakily took it and started to get up but gave up a cry of pain and would have fallen if Sasori hadn't been there.

Slinging the blonde's arm around his neck and allowing Deidara to lean on him he asked "What is it?"

Deidara winced in pain "M-my ankle…un…"

"Did you hurt it?"

Deidara nodded. Sasori huffed out a breath. Judging by the way his partner was leaning on him he knew the blonde wouldn't be able to walk much if at all. He would have had Deidara make one of his birds but he knew the blonde had little chakra left and the effort would completely exhaust him. Sighing, Sasori shifted his position so that his arm was under Deidara's legs as he picked the blonde up.

_He's too light…_

Deidara looked up at Sasori with hazed eyes, in confusion, but made no protest.

"You can't walk." He explained simply as he started off. He felt Deidara's head lean against his body.

"Danna?" The blonde spoke up suddenly, his voice coming out in a rasp.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry...really…un…"

Sasori sucked in a breath.

"I said forget it, Deidara. I'm sorry, I should be apologizing more than you. Sorry."

There, he said it. He didn't want to admit that his partner had been right but he was sorry. Especially now since Deidara was ill.

_Stupid kid…running off then getting himself all wet trying to make his stupid clay. I'm sure the weather didn't help. But…then again…if I hadn't hit him or if I tried to help him back with the ANBU we probably wouldn't be in this mess. _

Deidara started coughing again and Sasori felt the blonde shaking in his arms.

_Hang in there Deidara…you're going to be alright._

* * *

Sasori quickly made his way back to the more sheltered area he had passed. Deidara was unconscious now but he was shaking and moaning in his sleep. Trying to find as dry a spot as he could, he laid the blonde down. Remember he still had Deidara's Akatsuki cloak, he laid it over the kid. It was battered but it would provide some extra warmth. Then, he found some materials to start a fire and lit one up.

Feeling Deidara's forehead again he realized the blonde's fever was getting worse. Quickly, he got out a cloth and the water he carried, wet the cloth and placed it over Deidara's burning forehead. Deidara flinched at the touch but eventually calmed down as the coolness of the cloth began soothing his raging fever.

He wanted to examine his partner more thoroughly, but doing that would require removing both the cloaks. Since they were still semi-exposed to the elements Sasori knew that taking away the blonde's form of warmth for even a minute or two would be detrimental. Instead he made sure the fire kept going and replaced the cloth on Deidara's forehead every so often.

Pneumonia. He was sure of it. The way Deidara had been coughing just gave it away. That, along with the shortness of breath, chest pain, and fever was enough for Sasori. Plus, the examination of the cloth proved there was something infecting the blonde's lungs. He wasn't really a medic per se; he after all knew no medical jutsu. But, he did have more than just basic training in that field and knew enough. After all, a poison master needs to know how the human body works and that requires medical training.

He did want to examine the blonde a little bit better, just to make sure, but right now all signs were pointing to pneumonia. Sasori was holding out hope that this was one of the rare times he was wrong. Pneumonia was serious and if Deidara had been sick for as long as he thought then he had a bad case of it. Sasori knew it could be fatal if left untreated and he was hoping that he had been seriously mistaken or else not too late.

Sasori tried to think of what to do next. He didn't know of any place around where he could get treatment for his partner. There was that woman's house he had passed by…but no, she wouldn't have what he needed. Though, he kept the thought in mind in case he needed to leave the blonde somewhere while he looked for a place.

_There's that village I passed earlier too…but no, Deidara's already been there…and if we go back they might get suspicious. Too bad he can't fly…that would have been useful right now. Hm, I wonder…maybe that woman knows someplace. It might be worth a shot and it would be better than just wandering around. He needs medical attention as soon as possible._

Sasori glanced over at the blonde who shifted and coughed in his sleep.

_Hm, that's what I'll do. _

* * *

Somehow, morning had come without any warning. As Sasori got up he noticed his partner was still sleeping fitfully. Making his way over to Deidara, he placed a hand on the blonde's forehead.

_Still burning…_

Deidara coughed and slowly opened his visible eye.

"Sasori-danna…" He rasped out and struggled to sit up.

"Lie down brat. You're in no condition to get up."

Deidara laid back down and coughed again.

"Danna…"

He tried to say something but only ended up coughing more.

"Don't talk brat." Sasori admonished.

"Here" He said holding out a container of water to the blonde. "Drink."

Deidara only groaned a bit and shook his head.

"Idiot, you need it."

But Sasori wasn't sure Deidara had even heard him as the blonde had closed his eyes again and was taking in short, uneven breaths. Sighing, Sasori lifted his partner's head off the ground and tipped the container so that the water went down his throat, forcing him to take it. Deidara coughed slightly but made no protest whatsoever; he was too weak.

After Deidara had finished Sasori put the container away, then picked up the blonde and headed out. Deidara was shaking and Sasori still couldn't get over the fact that his partner was too light. It scared him really but he didn't have much time to think about it. He needed to get Deidara someplace where he could get medical treatment.

Sasori trudged through the snow. It had finally stopped storming but the snow was deep so he couldn't go so fast. He judged that he was only half an hour or so away from that woman's house, but with the current terrain he wasn't sure if he could make it that quickly. He spared a glance down at Deidara and found that his partner was still awake but really only half conscious as his hazed eyes looked out over the landscape. Sasori shook his head slightly and increased his pace.

After about another fifteen minutes of travel he felt Deidara shift in his arms and he quickly looked down at the blonde.

"Deidara? Are you alright?"

Deidara turned his head a bit and looked up at Sasori.

"Mhmm…I'm…good…" He said nodding slightly. "But…danna?"

"What?" Sasori asked; the slightest hints of anxiousness showing in his voice.

"I think we're being followed…un…"

Sasori almost stopped short as he suddenly felt six or more chakra presences in the area.

_Shit._

He had been so occupied with his thoughts and making sure the blonde was alright that he had forgotten to check for tails. Huffing, Sasori tried to speed up to get away but eventually found that the tails had surrounded them. He wasn't sure if they were ANBU or what but really, he didn't want to have to stop. Deidara couldn't fight and he needed to get to his destination as soon as possible. However, he knew now that he was going to have to do something about the ninja who were following him.

"Danna?" Deidara's raspy voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Yes…they're following."

Glancing around quickly, he found a spot where a few trees had fallen over, creating a sort of cave.

_Perfect._

Dashing over, he placed Deidara down, propping the blonde up against one of the trees.

"Don't move." He ordered.

"Where're you goin'…un?"

"To take care of the problem. Can you mask your chakra?"

Deidara nodded.

"Good. I'll be back"

Sasori quickly dashed away from his partner. He didn't want any of the ninja finding Deidara and so he hoped he would be able to lead them far enough away and then take them out. He sensed the ninja following him.

_Good. Now let's finish this quickly._

Sasori whipped out a couple of scrolls and prepared himself for his attackers. All too much slowly for Sasori's liking, the ninja came out. Six of them, just as he had thought.

_At least I know none of them got to Deidara. _

These ninja seemed different from any Sasori had ever seen. Much like ANBU they all masks that covered their faces. However, instead of animals the masks had strange markings on them. Also, the ninja were not dressed like ANBU in the least but were covered from head to toe in a strange looking sort of uniform. Sasori wondered who they could be but as he was in a rush he didn't give it much thought. Quickly, Sasori moved his puppets in to attack. He was wishing for Hiroku at the moment, but these would just have to do.

Before the puppets could get within a foot of the other ninja, they were gone, moved out of range. Sasori raised his eyebrows.

_Fast little pests are they? Fine._

With a flick of his wrist he sent the puppet after them even quicker than before. He smirked.

_Try and dodge this._

But dodge they did. Now Sasori was beginning to get annoyed.

"Cowards." He muttered under his breath.

"You're not going to be able to catch us that way, Akasuna no Sasori."

Sasori paused for a minute.

_How the hell do they know who I am?_

"Hmph, you don't know who you're dealing with then." He retorted.

Making a few rapid hand motions, he successfully took out two of the ninja but the others dodged and moved in to attack. One of them threw a volley of kunai towards Sasori, who quickly snapped back one of the puppets to deflect the weapons. As soon as he had done that though, two of the other ninja started some sort of jutsu which encased him and the last ninja in a barrier.

This last ninja pulled out a weapon; some type of cross between a katana and a sai.

"Looks like this is one on one now." The ninja said.

"Unless your friends decide to help." Sasori stated.

"Oh, don't worry about them; they're blocked out of the barrier until one of us dies. That's how the jutsu works after all."

"So you have a death wish then?"

"Hm, very funny. And sorry to disappoint, but no."

"Too bad really." Sasori said as he thrust his puppet towards his opponent at a blinding speed.

The other only calmly blocked the blow with his weapon.

"You're going to have to try a lot harder than that, Sasori"

_How do they know me? Hmph…looks like this is going to take a little longer than I thought._

* * *

Deidara groaned, leaning back more against the tree. Everything ached so much and he felt hot and cold all at the same time. He was doing his best to mask his chakra like Sasori had said but the effort was exhausting.

_Ohh…man…where the hell is Sasori? What's taking him so long?_

Deidara coughed, lightly for once. He really was beginning to wonder what happened to Sasori. The puppet had left about half an hour ago and hadn't come back. Deidara knew Sasori was quick with his opponents so this meant that the ninja were probably strong. Or something.

A sharp wind whistled through the air and Deidara shivered. He hugged his knees to his chest in an attempt to keep in the warmth. He was shaking with the cold but at the same time the fever spread throughout his body like fire, burning, hot fire that consumed him. All he wanted to do was roll over and sleep or something but he had to stay awake until Sasori came back.

Coughing a bit more, the blonde began to wish he had not left that village earlier. Sure he wouldn't have found Sasori but he would be far more comfortable. Then again, that guy was going to talk to him and he didn't really want to have to deal with that. Deidara supposed he couldn't have it both ways.

Just then, he felt a few chakra presences in the vicinity. He began focusing extra hard on masking his chakra and only hoped he wouldn't cough or something. He heard the ninja come closer and eventually they came into view. But Sasori had chosen a good hiding place so he was safe, at least for the time being.

There were three of them and they all had weird masks on. At first Deidara thought they were ANBU but on closer inspection, the masks were far different as were the uniforms. He held his breath. He knew he wouldn't be able to take them on. He knew it. He had his clay, yes, but he was sick and low on chakra. And besides, he knew nothing about these ninja. He wouldn't stand a chance.

The ninja moved dangerously close. Deidara wanted to run for it but Sasori had said to stay there, and besides, he didn't know if his ankle would hold. Still, he pulled himself up, leaning against the tree for support, just in case.

They started speaking in low whispers; Deidara couldn't even catch a snippet of their conversation. Suddenly, one of them was mere inches in front of him. The only thing that blocked him from the other's view now was the low hanging tree branch. Deidara fought back the urge to punch the ninja, or blow him up, or run, or a combination of the three. Trying to fight would only land him in more trouble and he didn't want to leave unless he absolutely had to.

Just then, one of the other ninja said something and the one in front of Deidara moved behind the branch, stopping in obvious surprise. Deidara stood too, shocked for a moment before the adrenaline kicked in, and he ran. Where to he didn't know but he knew he had to get away. Maybe find Sasori. He almost fell when pain shot through his ankle but forced himself to push past it and keep going.

He sensed the ninja follow him. Subconsciously, he knew he needed to preserve whatever chakra he had, but in that moment of panic he couldn't think. So he ran, as fast as he could without daring to look back or even caring where he was going.

To try and dissuade the ninja from following him, he pulled out a few shuriken and kunai and flung them back towards the ninja. He thought he heard a few of the weapons hit but he didn't bother to check and see if this had happened. Instead, he kept running.

Up in front of him, he saw a clearing and made a dash for it. He didn't want to fight but if he was forced to he knew it would be better for him to fight in the open rather than the small enclose of the forest. As he approached, he saw Sasori, fighting someone. Feeling a shot of relief he tried to run faster to get to his partner. Even if Sasori was engaged, he would be able to help the blonde.

But, getting even closer he noticed that Sasori was enclosed in some sort of weird barrier, along with another ninja who looked like the ones he had seen earlier. The battle seemed intense and Deidara really couldn't tell who was winning at the moment though he had faith in his partner.

_Why doesn't he get out of there? _

Sprinting now, he tried to get into the clearing but tripped over some log lying on the ground and fell instead. Turning his head back he saw the ninja quickly gaining on him. Picking himself up as fast he could, he jumped back a few feet.

"Sasori-danna!" He shouted but received no response.

Deidara wondered if the barrier also blocked sound of if Sasori was just ignoring him.

"Danna!"

He shouted again.

"Can you hear me?"

Nothing.

"Sorry, Deidara, your partner can't hear you."

Deidara whipped his head around.

"How the hell do you know who I am, un?" He demanded.

"We have our ways." The other said and by the tone of voice Deidara could tell he was smirking under the mask.

"Well, back off! Or I'll blast you all into a million pieces, un!"

All the other ninja started laughing suddenly which only angered the blonde.

"What the hell is so funny, un?"

"Do you honestly think you're going to be able to defeat us? Heheh, you have spunk kid, I'll give you that, but you're in no condition to fight and you know it. You're barely standing as it is, am I right?"

Deidara narrowed his eyes. Really, he felt horrible and the ninja was right, he didn't have the strength to keep this up for much longer. But he couldn't let them know that.

"Don't underestimate me, un"

"I think you're the one overestimating your abilities kid. Your partner's not going to be able to help you, no. See that barrier? It won't come down until one of them in there dies. You're on your own."

Deidara could hear the spite in his voice. Suddenly, he felt his chest tighten and he started coughing. He heard the ninja laugh again.

"See? You're too weak. You got away from us earlier but now we're going to kill you. Might as well accept the fact."

_What does he mean; I got away from them earlier? He's not making any sense…_

"If I recall correctly," He wheezed, "I never even met you guys. So I have no idea what the hell you're talking about, un."

They laughed yet again.

"Well, my dear boy, you may not have met us, but we know you."

"I think I figured that out already, un." He answered with a roll of his eyes.

"Remember the village?"

Suddenly, he did. He knew the place had a bad aura, he knew it. He wasn't sure who these people were but now he could tell they were definitely from that village as they were giving him that same bad feeling.

"Tch, well, I didn't do anything to your precious village so why do you care? Or are you just out hunting Akatsuki? If so, you're doing it wrong. You won't get any reward for bringing me back dead, un."

"Hm, you seem to be mistaken. You're right, you never did anything to our village, and we won't get anything for killing you then taking you back to one of the main villages. But, we do have a mission that involves us getting something we can only have if you and your partner die."

The ninja made some sort of sign and all at once Deidara heard someone moving behind him. While he had been busy talking, the other two ninja had gotten into place and were now poised perfectly for attack. Whirling around, he blocked the ninja behind him with a kunai then, quickly taking a step or so back, he stuck his hands into his clay pouches and quickly molded some close ranged explosives. With a sweep of his hand, he tossed them out in front of him, blowing off the other ninja's mask and knocking her back.

_Wait a minute, a kunoichi?_

She got up and moved into attack again, pulling out a katana. She brought the weapon above his head and made a slicing motion downward but he blocked with a kunai, holding her there.

"Naoko-san?" he said as he recognized the woman. She looked at him with some sort of unreadable expression.

"I'm sorry, Deidara-kun" she whispered.

Deidara heard someone else come from behind him to attack and, shaking his head, pushed Naoko's blade back with his own, using a spinning force to turn himself around and sent Naoko flying back into the other ninja.

For some reason, it didn't altogether surprise him that Naoko was among them. But still, he was a little shocked. The leader of the band cursed.

"Damnit, can't you two do anything right? He's a damn _kid _in no condition to fight! And you can't even land a blow!"

While the ninja was berating his team Deidara took this as an opportunity to mold a clay bird, exhausting a good amount of his chakra, to get above their heads.

"Well, what happened to killing me, un?" He called out, making sure the bird was high enough off the ground so that it wouldn't be accessible from any of the trees.

The leader turned and swore.

* * *

_Strange turn of events...they moved in too soon. Idiots! _

_..._

_Well, it will work out. We're just going to have to move at a faster pace._

_..._

_If they know what's best for them, they'd retreat right now. _

_*Sigh*_

_You never can teach old dogs new tricks. _

* * *

Deidara sat passively on the bird, watching the leader argue with his team. He assumed they were trying to figure out how to reach him, but at this rate they weren't going to have to very soon. His chakra was diminishing and he knew he wasn't going to be able to keep the bird flying for much longer. Deciding to end it, he prepared a C3 bomb and was going to drop it on them when he thought of something.

Even though he knew it was irrational, he didn't want to hurt Naoko. She had helped him once and though he she was trying to kill him right now he felt like he owed her. He shifted uncomfortably. Damn morals! He was an S-class criminal, why did he care? He should just blow them all up. But for some reason, he didn't want to. Sighing, he decided to risk it. Flying the bird in, he swooped down and picked up Naoko with it, flew up high enough to be out of range and dropped the bomb on the shocked ninja.

_There, I did it. _

Then, he felt the adrenaline wear off and found himself panting and shivering. He barely managed to bring the bird back down towards earth before he collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted. Moaning, he tried to pick himself up but only ended up falling back to the ground. He started coughing, violently.

_Stop, please stop, just stop…ohhh…it hurts so much…_

* * *

Sasori and his opponent had a few more similar exchanges. But, just as Sasori thought he was beginning to wear the other ninja down, the other stopped and said, "Well, look who's finally arrived" If Sasori could have seen his face he knew the ninja would be smirking. Turning his head slightly, he almost gasped.

"Deidara!"

"He can't hear you." The ninja said matter-of-factly. "This barrier is soundproof"

Sasori growled.

"Oh, don't worry, you'll both be dead soon enough."

Sasori said nothing but instead moved his puppets in and landed a stabbing blow through the ninja's stomach.

"Now who's going to be dead?"

"I'm not finished" the other said, growling and gasping in pain.

"I think you are. The blade is coated in poison that will kill within the hour."

The ninja fell to his knees, gasping. "Heh, you're still going to have to wait an hour to get out. Who knows what will happen to the kid by then?"

Sasori remained silent. Then he answered, "It doesn't matter. Because I'll kill you right now" He said as he sent another puppet towards the ninja.

Much to Sasori's surprise and dismay, the ninja managed to block.

"I don't think so."

Just then, Sasori heard a muffled _boom. _He turned around and smirked when he saw that Deidara had taken out his pursuers.

"Well, it looks like you won't have to worry about us much longer." Sasori told the ninja.

Just then, his opponent laughed manically. Sasori frowned.

"You think you've seen the end of us? You're dead wrong. We'll win, sooner or later. And besides, that blonde won't last. He's half dead already. Pretty soon it will only be you left an-"

He was cut off by Sasori's puppet, slicing his head off.

"He was annoying." Sasori muttered to himself.

He turned around as the barrier vanished and saw his partner on the ground, collapsed.

"Deidara!" He ran up to his partner.

It was then he noticed the kunoichi sitting a little ways off, not moving, but watching them.

_Did Deidara miss one?_

But, she didn't seem to have the same intent as her teammates had. She just sat there, watching them with an unreadable expression. Sasori turned his attention back to his partner.

"Brat, can you hear me?"

"…Sasori-danna?" He croaked, turning his head to face his partner.

Sasori quickly grabbed the blonde's wrist to check his pulse which he confirmed was beating at an alarmingly fast rate. He placed his hand on Deidara's forehead which was, of course, still just as hot as ever. Deidara shook and started coughing.

"Alright, come on," He said lifting the blonde up and getting to his feet. "Let's get you out of here."

Deidara nodded and leaned his head against Sasori, coughing violently.

_Come on Deidara, just hang in there. _

He glanced over at the woman who was still sitting and watching them. Sasori figured he could try and get some information out of her.

"You," He growled. "Hurry up and tell me where I can bring him to a doctor and I won't kill you."

The woman glanced up at Sasori then at the pale form of Deidara in his arms.

Getting up she said softly, "I'll show you," And started off in the opposite direction.

Sasori wanted to say something but just then Deidara moaned and coughed, shaking in his arms. Nodding and eyeing her suspiciously, he followed.

_Just a little more Deidara, don't give up._

* * *

****On the field of battle, there laid one ninja. One left that had not yet been killed. One of the ones Sasori had taken out earlier but had not yet been completely taken out by the poison.

A heavily cloaked figure, features obscured, looked out over the fighting area. Watching, taking in every detail of the enclosure. Eyes wandering towards the retreating figures in the distance, then back to the field. He walked over to the dying ninja.

"O-oh, it's y-you...H-help me...p-please!"

"Hmm, let me think about that for a minute. Did you follow my orders?"

"N-no...but Ky-"

"And did you accomplish your mission after that?"

"N-no b-but if you just-"

"Then I'm afraid not. But,"

Here the figure unsheathed a small sword.

"Let me give you a...gift."

* * *

**Well, we'll find out about Naoko next chapter. And those weird "ninja" ...muhahahaha... Man..I can't wait to write another chapter, but sadly I'm going on a trip; leaving on Friday and won't be back until Sunday evening. So...yeah, there probably won't be any more chapters for this fic until next week sadly T_T**_  
_

**AGH! FORGIVE ME!  
**

**Thanks to everyone who reviews or has reviewed! It means a lot to me :3  
**


	6. Respite

**UPDATED AGAIN 11/30/12: Hopefully this is the last of the chapters I need to change...well, from now on I'll be more careful with my uploads! xPP**

**UPDATED 11/29/12 A/N: 'nother changed chappie...xD**

**Original A/N: Next chappie! I'm so excited :3 Sorry this took so long everyone! My computer blew up and so now I have to share with my brother which means less time for story writing TT_TT But I'm not dead! I will be slowly updating while I work on saving up for a new computer! Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter. It's one of my favorites...well, I guess my OC, Naoko is just kinda growing on me...so yeah...xD**

**I don't own any of the characters besides Naoko in this fic!  
**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Mission Impossible**_

* * *

**Chapter Six: Respite**

* * *

Finally, _finally,_ they reached a large village nestled in between the forest and a few small hills that could almost be called mountains. And not a moment too soon either. Deidara had been getting worse the whole way, coughing violently and falling into a state of half consciousness, twisting and turning in Sasori's arms. And Sasori still couldn't get over how damn _light_ the blonde was. Weightless, almost and Sasori knew this was a bad sign. Also, Sasori had begun to lose his patience with the woman who had been leading them and figured if it went on much longer he might have to do something about it. Little did she know how close she had come to being killed by the puppet master.

Sasori now spared a glance down at his young partner. The blonde had his eyes squeezed shut and was panting and moaning.

_We're here now,_ _just a few more minutes Deidara. Hang in there. I'm getting help. _

Nearing the entrance of the village he called out to the woman in front of him.

"Hey, you, you better not try anything here. I _will_ kill you."

He growled. He didn't feel like being nice. He was still suspicious of the woman after all even though she had shown him the village.

"You can call me Naoko. And you don't have to worry. I'm not with them anymore. Come on." She said in reply.

Sasori mumbled something in protest but followed after the woman, Naoko.

_I don't care what she says. One slip up and she's dead. I'll make sure of that. _

Naoko led Sasori into a small inn. She went up to the desk clerk and said something in a low voice that Sasori didn't quite catch. Not that it mattered anyways. He would kill her, if it came to that, and anyone else who happened to get in the way.

The clerk only nodded and Naoko motioned to Sasori to follow her, which he did. Eventually, they came to a dark, small-ish room. Naoko lit up a light and then turned to face Sasori.

"You two can stay here for as long as you need, it won't cost you anything. I'm going to get a doctor for him." She said, motioning to Deidara. "I'll be back soon." With that she turned to leave, shutting the door softly behind her.

Sasori sighed. As much as he may not like it, the woman had been helpful so far and she certainly had some connections. He would have liked to question her further about the others she had been with earlier, how they knew him and his partner, what the whole thing had been about, but he had a bigger problem on his hands at the moment.

Quickly, he made his way over to one of the beds and laid Deidara down. He removed the blonde's Akatsuki cloak and hitae-ate as well as the other various items his partner kept. Sasori then remembered that Deidara had injured his ankle so he decided to inspect the severity of it. Bending over, he frowned as he checked it. The blonde's leg was swollen and Sasori could tell it was badly broken. He began muttering something under his breath as he moved to bandage it. As he finished, he heard the blonde moan and cough. He moved a hand to the kid's forehead.

_He's so hot…_

"Deidara? You awake?" He asked.

Deidara moaned a bit as his eyes slowly opened. He seemed to be slightly confused as his pale, hazed eyes looked around the room before finally landing on Sasori.

"Sasori no danna…"

_*Cough cough* _

_"_Where"

_*Cough*_

"Are…"

_*Cough cough*_

He said, coughing more and more, unable to choke out the last word.

Sasori got out a cloth and wiped the sweat off his partner's face.

"We're at an inn, in a village" he answered "We're getting a doctor for you." He added, as an afterthought.

Deidara only nodded, still coughing. He seemed to barely comprehend Sasori's words. Sasori was really beginning to wish Naoko would hurry it up already. Deidara needed treatment and he couldn't wait much longer. Normally, Sasori would be content to look after his partner himself but even though he was sure he could take care of the kid he knew he couldn't get the medicine Deidara needed. Or, he could, but he didn't have it readily available so it would take him some time. And time was one thing they just didn't have.

Sasori pulled out a container of water from somewhere, uncapped it, and tried to give it to Deidara. But the blonde just didn't want the drink. Setting his face, he lifted his partner's head up a bit and tilted the container, trying to get some of the water into the kid. But, either Deidara couldn't or wouldn't swallow it.

"Brat! Come on, you need this!"

Deidara's eyes were squeezed shut and he was panting.

"Deidara! Do you hear me? Drink it already!"

No luck. Sasori decided maybe he was being a little too harsh and he thought he might try a different approach.

"Deidara…come on, your body needs the fluid. Drink it, please."

The blonde moaned and coughed.

"Come on Deidara…I know it hurts. Just drink a little"

Eventually, with much coaxing, he was able to ease some of the water down Deidara's throat. As he set the blonde back down, he frowned. The amount was no where near what his partner needed, but Deidara just didn't want any of the liquid. At least he had been able to get _some_ of the water down but still, this definitely wasn't a good sign.

As Sasori put the water container away, he heard someone enter the room. Turning his head slightly he saw Naoko along with a middle aged man who had a black bag in his hand. Silently, Sasori got up, staring down the man as Naoko led him to the bed. The doctor then sat down where Sasori had been a moment ago and began looking his new patient over.

An awkward sort of silence hung in the air, the only interruptions being Deidara's violent coughs, as Sasori glared at both of the newcomers. It wasn't that he didn't trust them but, well, he didn't trust them. And not without reason. Both Deidara and he were wanted rogues; you never could tell where your enemies would come from. Still, he said nothing. He knew he needed the doctor since the man had the medicine and tools he just didn't have and couldn't get very easily. And Naoko, well, he would let her stay for now, as long as she wasn't being a disturbance. He didn't want to cause a scene as long as that doctor was there.

After a while, the doctor broke the overhanging tension.

"How long has he been sick?"

It took Sasori a moment to figure out that the man was addressing _him_.

"About two weeks." He answered curtly.

The man nodded and continued his examination, inserting a thermometer into the blonde's mouth and began checking the kid's chest. Eventually, he finished and turned to Sasori again.

"Does he have any chest pain?"

"Yes"

"Chills?"

"Yes"

"Shortness of breath?"

"Yes"

"Vomiting?"

"Yes"

"Anything else?"

"He won't drink anything. And he's very light."

The doctor nodded.

"He has a severe case of pneumonia. I'll give you some medicine for him but it will be a while before he recovers"

_Damn. Just like I thought…_

"How long before he completely recovers?"

"At this point I'd say the best you can hope for is that he'll recover at all. He's been sick for a while and this is very severe. But, I'd give him two weeks minimum."

Sasori nodded. He knew all of this but getting a second opinion never hurt. Still, he didn't like it. He knew what the man had been saying. He knew. This was serious, very serious and the odds were stacked against his blonde partner.

Naoko stood up.

"Thank you." She said. "I'll show you out."

The doctor nodded and got up as well. Going up to Sasori, he pulled out a bottle of something and handed it to the puppet master.

"Two spoonfuls twice a day. You can mix it with water or something if it makes it easier for him to swallow."

Sasori only gave a slight nod as he took the bottle and looked it over. He heard Naoko and the doctor leave the room as he sat down next to the blonde again.

Putting the medicine down on the table, he looked his partner over.

_I suppose I should give him some now. _

Silently, he prepared the proper amount and then gently, with more patience than he thought he could ever show, he was able to get the thick substance into his partner. As he put the medicine away he noticed the blonde shivering and pulled the covers up around chin. Putting his hand on Deidara's forehead again he figured he should try and soothe the blonde's fever a bit. So, he got out a cloth, wet it, and placed it on Deidara's forehead. Deidara began shivering some more and Sasori, observing this, found an extra blanket in the closet and placed this over his ill partner.

The blonde coughed and Sasori began wondering about the doctor's words and whether or not his partner would recover.

_ I never thought I'd say this but I'd rather have him annoying the hell out of me right now. _

Sasori shook his head. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. He thought that when he had finally found his partner, things would be fine. Or, as fine as they ever were. He hadn't been expecting this; the blonde wasn't supposed to be dying damnit! Though he was still reluctant to admit it, he was very sorry for the way he'd been treating his partner lately. For kami's sake, the kid was, well, just that, a kid. What was he, half Sasori's age? He was young, that much was for sure and Sasori wondered exactly how harsh his treatment had been of the blonde had been. Deidara seemed to take it all in stride most of the time but this was only making Sasori wonder what kind of a life the kid had before Akatsuki to be able to take it so easily. He felt guilty for not knowing much about the blonde and also for it to have to come to something like this for him to actually care.

Now, there were thousands of questions plaguing his mind. Did Deidara have a family? If so, did they care? If the blonde were to die, how would his family know? If he didn't have a family, wasn't there anyone else who cared enough? How exactly _did_ the young Iwa ninja go rogue?

Sasori also felt a sort of nagging in the back of his mind that this whole mess was his fault. He shouldn't have been so harsh with his partner that night…he should have tried harder to help the blonde…and why hadn't he apologized better than that before?

Sasori was interrupted from his thoughts by a coughing spasm from Deidara. He put his hand on the blonde's shoulder but knew there was nothing he could really do except let the spell pass. After a bit, Deidara calmed down and Sasori could hear his shallow breathing.

_Damnit Deidara! Snap out of it already! I'd even admit those stupid sculptures of yours might potentially be maybe considered art…just, anything but this…_

* * *

Minutes ticked away into hours and Sasori sighed in exasperation. Honestly, he didn't know what to do and he didn't like all this waiting. He had tried to occupy himself by working on his puppets, namely Hiroku, but he just couldn't keep his focus off his partner. He had then gotten out their mission scroll and read it over, again and again and again. Here was the next biggest problem he was going to have to deal with.

He still had their mission to think about. Pein had given them quite a bit of time to work on it, but still, this whole thing with Deidara was going to take a while. The fact that they had absolutely no idea what they were supposed to be doing only made the whole mess worse.

And then there was Naoko. Who, by the way, still had yet to return. Sasori did not know what to make of her. He didn't particularly like her, but then again he didn't particularly like anyone save a select few. He had been planning on questioning her when she came back but she had made herself scarce. Highly convenient for her, but not so for Sasori.

Damn blonde! This was his fault. No…it was Sasori's fault…It was his fault the kid was like this now. If Deidara didn't pull out of this he didn't know what he would do. Sasori scoffed. Since when did he, Akasuna no Sasori, care about idiotic blonde bombers? Ones that annoyed the hell out of him at that. Sasori tried telling himself that he was only doing it because Pein would probably burn him alive or something if he didn't look after his partner. But, for some reason, he just couldn't convince himself.

Suddenly, he heard the door open and shut and someone crossed the floor. Turning his gaze, he locked eyes with Naoko who sat down on a chair across from Sasori. Neither of them said anything for a long while and only continued the silent contest.

"What do you want?" Sasori finally asked with a low growl.

Naoko blinked once, twice and said, "Nothing at all."

"Hn"

"I told you, I'm not with them anymore."

"Who were they?"

"Oh um, you know…"

"No, I don't."

"Look, I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you everything you want to know and in exchange you'll answer a few questions for me."

Sasori narrowed his eyes. He hadn't expected the woman to be so bold. But whatever. Not like he cared.

"That will depend on the type of question."

"Then I suppose I might not be able to tell you everything." She answered, sitting back and crossing her arms.

Sasori leaned in a bit.

"You don't have to tell me. I have ways of finding out what I want."

"Oh really?"

"What are you still doing here anyways?"

"I have questions."

"Then ask. But I don't guarantee an answer."

"And I'm trying to make sure I get what I want."

"I suggest you figure it out soon or I might end up killing you anyways."

"Do that and you mess up your whole position here. Besides, I got you what you wanted, isn't that enough?"

"You're beginning to annoy me."

"You're annoying me. And I don't trust you. I'm not leaving him here with you until I'm satisfied."

Sasori was rather taken aback, though he didn't show it.

_Just who the hell does this woman think she is? Bold is she? And what does she care about Deidara? Anyways, he's my partner._

"Well, I don't trust you. And I think he's perfectly fine with me. He's _my_ partner after all."

"What kind of a partner leaves a kid to die in the snow?"

"Ones that get separated from them and spend two damn weeks trying to find them."

Naoko said nothing to this but muttered something under her breath. Sasori covered his face with his hands.

_Ugh, let's try this again…I do want to get information out of her…_

"Fine, I'll answer your questions to the best of my abilities."

"Good enough."

"First off, how do you know my partner?"

"I found him outside my village, collapsed and brought him to my house."

Sasori raised an eyebrow.

_Is that the place Deidara was before? _

"I suppose I should thank you for that." He answered grudgingly.

"Who were those people you were with?"

"That requires a longer explanation."

"I'm waiting."

Naoko sighed. "Look, I don't know everything myself so I'll try and give you as much as possible. But I'm telling you there are things I just don't know."

"My village is rather small and as such is prone to attacks from bandits, warlords, whoever decides they want to attack really. We're not near enough to any of the main villages to receive protection and because we're so small we get overlooked by the larger villages in our area. So, about twenty years ago, a few people in the village formed a small band of secret ninja."

"The original idea was to protect the village from the frequent attacks but to do so quietly. Many in the village didn't like ninja and wouldn't approve of the idea. There were a few who had been ninja before and had come to our village. They started the group and trained a few of us who were interested. I found out about the group from a friend who was involved and decided to join myself. My family had actually come from Iwagakure, but I moved in with my aunt and uncle after my parents died. I had some basic training but hadn't yet made genin level. When I came here, I wanted to continue my training but there weren't many options. So, I decided to join since I figured I would be doing something to help the village as well as honing my skills."

"Anyways, like I said, the original idea was to help the village. And for a while, it stayed that way. We trained our skills and would take turns in groups of four, going out, patrolling the village and eliminating threats. We trained new people as needed and no one outside of our group found out about us. But, five years ago, that changed."

"By that time, the original leaders of our group had all died, either by natural causes or various patrols and so new people took over. Honestly, I don't know who they were but things started becoming more and more secretive. We were given different missions outside of just the normal patrols. All I can really say is that I don't like it."

"So, I don't know their agenda. But I can tell you that I don't believe it to be good. Last month we were given a new mission. We had heard from the neighboring nation's ANBU that there was someone who was after our group. Of course, the ANBU didn't know of our ninja, they only heard that an organization wanted to eliminate a band of secret ninja who were in our nation. Eventually, we learned that the organization after us is none other than Akatsuki. Why they would want to eliminate us is beyond me but like I said, I have no idea what's going on anymore."

"Anyways, supposedly, Akatsuki was going to send a team or whoever they send out, to meet a contact at another village in the neighboring nation. Our mission was to somehow intercept and kill them. So we were on the lookout for anyone who could possibly be Akatsuki."

"But then, the mission changed abruptly. For whatever reason, they decided not to go after Akatsuki anymore. What they want now I still don't know, like I keep saying, I don't know much about their motives. At any rate, for a while, we went back to doing patrols. I found your partner on one of those patrols and that's when things got weird again."

"It was like, they all knew about him even though I had said nothing. Our village is small so news travels quickly, but this happened all in the same night. I don't know what was wrong, but something was. They all wanted to know more about him, whether or not he was a shinobi, where he was from, that sort of thing. But I had a feeling it was more than just mere interest. A few days after, one of the members of our band actually came to my house and demanded answers. He was so adamant and appeared out of nowhere! It caused my uncle to come into the room and there was a pretty big commotion. After that, my uncle became very suspicious about your partner."

"Already before he hadn't liked the boy but after that he was even more curious. Shortly thereafter, your partner just left. My aunt had been rather disappointed but my uncle was relieved. To be honest, I think they're both rather blind to the whole matter as they didn't question it much. Anyways, after my group learned about this, they wanted us to go chasing him down. Apparently they had also found out about you being around and also, somehow you two are bad for our group or whatever. I had to go along with it or risk being exposed to the village."

"And I think you know the rest from there. I'm sorry I can't tell you anymore since I don't rightly know anymore. Trust me, if I knew, I would tell you. I don't like where the group is going and I've seen things that have happened over the past five years that I'd rather soon forget."

Sasori just stared at the woman for a while. He didn't really know where to begin. Her information had been useful but Sasori wondered how she would react if he told her that Deidara and he were indeed Akatsuki. Though, the part about wanting to eliminate a secret group of ninja he couldn't be so sure about.

"Why did you decide to help us?" He asked slowly

"I'm tired of that group and I'm going to prove it. Besides…I felt bad for your partner…" She added softly.

For some reason, Sasori thought there was more to it than that but he didn't say anything about it.

"Alright, you held up your end so I suppose it's time for me to return the favor. What questions do you have?"

"Well, for starters, who are you guys exactly?"

_And this is exactly the type of question I did not want to answer._

"You seem to already know our names well enough."

"I don't mean that. I mean, who do you work for?"

"That's classified."

"You said you would answer."

"I said to the best of my abilities."

"So why is it classified?"

"Because I might have to kill you if I told you."

"Try me."

"Akatsuki."

"What?"

"We're Akatsuki."

Naoko stared.

"You wanted to know." Sasori stated passively.

Surprisingly, Naoko didn't scream, or shout, or accuse him, or do anything of the things one would think normal upon finding out they had been helping the most deadly criminal organization in the world. Instead, her lips formed a ghost of a smile and she replied, "I thought it might be something along those lines."

Now it was Sasori's turn to stare. What was this woman, psychic? Well, it didn't really matter he supposed. What was done was done.

"You don't care?" He asked her.

"No"

"You do realize you've just helped out Akatsuki, right? That gets you immediately killed in three of the five great villages and at least locked up for life in the other two. Most other villages would also have you killed on the spot."

"Yes, I know that. But I can say I didn't know when I helped you guys. And besides, I didn't do it for _you._"

Sasori just stared.

"You care about the brat because?"

"I have my reasons. And for his partner you're certainly being disrespectful."

"Hardly. You just don't know him well enough."

"A lot you know." Naoko muttered.

Sasori raised an eyebrow at this but only asked, "Anymore questions for me?"

"Well, now that I can confirm that you are Akatsuki, why do you want to eliminate my former group?"

"As far as I know, we don't. Look, I'm like you. I don't know much. Our mission was to go to a pre-stated village and await further orders. That was it. But we were separated before we could even get there so I have no idea."

Naoko just nodded.

"Anything else?"

"No, thank you." Then, getting up she said, "Well, I'll leave you here then. I still don't trust you, Akasuna no Sasori, but I'll leave you be for now."

Sasori narrowed his eyes. "Meaning you'll come back."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I'll stay around here until you leave. If you want me for something you can just go down to the desk and ask for me. I'll come when I can."

Sasori snorted.

_Yeah, like I'll need her._

Naoko raised an eyebrow.

"You better take care of that kid."

"Or what?" He growled. "May I remind you, he's _my_ partner. I _know _what I have to do."

"We'll see." She said as she spun on her heels and left, closing the door with a _clang_ behind her.

* * *

_Ohhh man…what's going on? Damn…my head hurts so much…and so does my chest…ohhh…where…am I? Not outside anymore…what happened? Sasori? Where'd he go? Ugh…I think I'm gonna be sick…_

Deidara moaned as a wave of nausea passed over him. He felt a cool hand on his forehead and heard a voice saying something to him. Asking him…what? He couldn't tell. He felt so out of it. He felt the hand be replaced by a cool cloth and slowly, slowly he opened his eyes.

As his vision came into focus, he looked around the room and noticed that they must be in some sort of inn somewhere. Shifting his gaze a bit he noticed Sasori hovering over him.

"Sasori-danna?" He asked. His voice came out in a rasp and he coughed a bit, his throat hurting.

"Deidara, how do you feel?"

"Awful, un" he groaned.

Sasori only nodded and seemed to be busy doing something, Deidara just couldn't tell what. He coughed a bit more.

"What happened, un?"

"We took out our pursuers and then I brought you here with Naoko. She showed me this place in fact." Sasori answered without looking up.

"Naoko-san?"

"Yes, brat. She seems to have an interest in you"

_Huh, wonder why that would be…_

Deidara blinked a couple of times and coughed again.

"Open your mouth." Sasori commanded.

Slightly surprised, Deidara did so and Sasori eased a thermometer in.

"Now close it, and don't bite down."

Nodding, Deidara did as he was told.

Sasori went about doing something else for a bit as he waited. Finally, he pulled it out, looked at it for a moment, and then sighed. Deidara turned his head to try to get a better view but he just didn't have the strength to pull himself up to see. Sasori grabbed something off the table next to the bed and then eased an arm under Deidara's head, lifting him up slightly and pressing a glass to his lips.

"Drink it." He ordered and slowly, Deidara did so.

Once he had finished, Sasori set him back down again and began doing something with some stuff on the table.

"Danna?"

"What?"

"How long have we been here, un?"

"A week."

Deidara blinked. A week was a long time, at least as far as Sasori was concerned. Deidara began coughing again. Sasori turned from whatever he was doing and placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder. After the spell had passed, he looked up at his partner who was looking him over.

"What about the mission, un."

"Don't worry about that now. Go back to sleep."

Deidara nodded but began shivering violently. Sasori noticed this and pulled the blankets up tighter around him.

"Cold?"

Deidara nodded, still shivering a bit despite the blankets.

Sasori got up, pulled out another blanket from somewhere and placed it over the blonde. Though Deidara was still shivering, the extra warmth helped and he felt his body relaxing a bit. Closing his eyes, he tried to get back to sleep.

_Ugh…everything hurts so much…and I feel so damn cold now…ohhh…at least…Sasori's here now…nn…_

As Deidara fell asleep, Sasori breathed out a sigh of relief. The blonde still had a ways to go, but he was recovering if only a bit. Sasori was just glad that the kid had finally woken up.

The first few days had been awful. Deidara had seemed to have gotten worse for a while but now he finally seemed like he was on the right track. He still had a very high fever, and that cough…and his breathing wasn't yet normal but it was better than before. At least it was a start.

* * *

Days passed. Little by little, Sasori began to see improvement in his partner, but it was painfully slow. Sasori honestly couldn't imagine what the kid was going through and how he managed to somehow keep from whining or something all the time. He knew his partner was in pain, he knew it. And it wasn't getting better very quickly. But, all things considered, Deidara seemed to be handling it pretty well.

Sasori had seen no more of Naoko since their last conversation and he couldn't say that he was disappointed. In fact, he hoped that they would be able to get out of there without ever having to see her again. Fate, of course, had other plans.

Deidara was sleeping and Sasori was trying to fix Hiroku once and for all and forever, when Naoko just decided to let herself in. Sasori knew it was her – he didn't even have to look up to know that – and he cursed under his breath. She crossed the room without saying anything to Sasori and sat down on the chair next to Deidara's bed.

Neither one said anything to the other and it was a while before Sasori even acknowledged the woman's presence. Eventually though, he turned his gaze towards her and found she had been staring at him the whole time. They locked gazes for a while; the silence only being interrupted by Deidara's erratic breathing and occasional coughing.

Sasori turned back to working on Hiroku.

"What do you want?" He asked irritably.

"How's your partner?"

"Fine"

Sasori really wished she would just leave. He didn't like her, he didn't like her at all and he wasn't in the mood to deal with her at the moment. Surreptitiously, he glanced upwards and saw that she was watching him with her arms crossed and a frown plastered on her face.

"What the hell is your problem?" She dared to ask.

"_You're_ my problem." Sasori growled

"If I recall correctly, you asked for _my_ help."

"And you did what you were told. Thanks, but we don't need you anymore."

"I told you I don't trust you."

"Well, good for you. I told you I want you to leave. Now kindly do so before I'm forced to _make_ you leave."

"Let me rephrase that; I don't trust you with this kid!"

"Too damn bad lady. It's none of your business. Now get out, _or else_." Sasori got up menacingly.

Naoko only sat and glared at Sasori,. "I'm _making_ it my business!"

"Do you have a death wish?"

"I'm not leaving him here with you!"

"Need I remind you he's _my_ partner? I think he'll be perfectly fine with me"

"Tch," The woman narrowed her eyes. "I don't trust you"

"I believe we've established that already. What's with the sudden interest in my partner?"

"You don't need to know that!"

Sasori took a step closer to her. "Considering it's my partner we're talking about here, I think I'm entitled to some sort of knowledge."

"He's a kid!"

"I think I'm aware of that. Now answer my question or I'll throw you out right now!"

"Stop making idle threats!"

Suddenly, Sasori stood in front of the woman and grabbed her neck, holding her against the wall not so tightly that she couldn't breathe, but enough to make her uncomfortable.

"Idle threats, eh? I swear if you do not tell me right now I'll choke the life out of you and toss your corpse out the window. What's your choice?"

Naoko was scared. Sasori could tell. He could see the fear in her eyes and feel her body shaking. Quite honestly, he didn't really want to have to kill her, she was just getting on his nerves. But if she continued to be annoying, he would do it. He had no qualms, and it didn't matter either way. He just preferred to not have to deal with the possibility of an angry/suspicious village if possible.

Despite the fact that Naoko seemed to be scared out of her skin, she still managed to look Sasori in the eye and say with her voice cold as ice, "Well whoever taught you manners?"

Sasori pressed her harder against the wall. "Last I knew those don't exactly apply to ninja. Are you going to tell me or what?"

"…We're from the same village…" She muttered, looking away.

Sasori raised an eyebrow. Then it clicked.

_Right…she said she was from Iwa originally…that's where Deidara was from too…what does that have to do with any of this? Don't tell me she knows the brat._

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Suddenly, Naoko shot her head up and glared at Sasori.

"I don't have to tell you anything!" She shouted.

This, of course, only made Sasori more angry.

"Fine. Be that way."

He threw her across the floor.

"Now get the hell out of here!"

"I told you I'm not leaving!"

"And I said you are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"You guys sound like two-year-olds, un"

_Deidara?_

Both Sasori and Naoko shut their mouths immediately and whipped their heads around to look at Deidara, who had somehow managed to pull himself into a sitting position and, despite his pallid features, had somewhat of a smirk on his face. The two quickly made their way over to the blonde, sending daggers with their eyes to each other the whole time.

Deidara yawned. "You know, you guys could stand to be a bit quieter. _Some_ of us are trying to sleep, un"

"Sorry, Deidara-kun." Naoko said sweetly to him.

Then she went back to glaring daggers at Sasori. Sasori glared at her for a moment longer before turning his attention to his partner.

"How are you doing Deidara?"

"Better I suppose, un"

"How long have you been awake for?" Naoko asked nervously.

Deidara raised what Sasori knew was an amused eyebrow.

"Long enough, un."

Sasori rolled his eyes at his partner. He saw Naoko glaring at him again but pretended not to notice.

Deidara coughed lightly.

"Actually, ever since danna started threatening you, un." He said, smirking again.

"Shut up brat."

Naoko laughed nervously.

"You heard all that?"

"Well, you kind of made it hard _not _to hear, un" Deidara answered, waving his hand in the air.

Naoko just sort of stared for a moment and then decided to go on glaring at Sasori, as if it was all _his_ fault. Sasori in turn, turned to glare at Naoko again.

* * *

Deidara looked from Sasori to Naoko and back again, slightly confused.

_What the hell are they so jazzed up about? Eh, whatever… _

He began coughing a bit.

_Ugh, stupid cough…_

All in all, he really had finally begun to feel better. His chest didn't hurt much anymore and his cough was lighter. Now he was just tired, slightly cold, and a little achy. And also a little hungry.

"Danna?" He asked, but received no response from his partner.

"Danna? Sasori-danna?" He tried again, but Sasori seemed locked in his silent battle with Naoko.

Deidara sighed.

"Naoko-san?" But he received no response from her either.

Deidara turned his gaze back forward and blinked a couple of times.

"Uh, guys?"

Still no answer.

"Whatever, un." He mumbled and began getting up.

He winced a bit as he put weight on his sore ankle, but even the pain from that had receded. However, as he stood up he felt the room spinning. Gripping the bed for support he managed to pull himself up.

"Uh, Sasori no danna? Naoko-san?" He tried again. Suddenly, Sasori turned to face him.

"What do you think you're doing brat? Get back in bed; you're in no condition to be getting up!"

"But danna…"

"Actually, I agree with him, for once" Naoko said

"But-"

"Deidara"

"Fine, whatever, un." He said sitting back down.

"Here, you need to take this anyways" Sasori said, handing him a spoon of something. Deidara made a sort of face but took the medicine all the same.

"Danna?"

"What?"

"Um, I'm kinda hungry you know, un"

Sasori blinked. "Oh"

Deidara was rather annoyed. If his partner wasn't going to let him get his own food then he better have some around somewhere.

Naoko sighed.

"I'll get you something" She said.

She got up to leave but not without making a weird face at Sasori before she left. Sasori only stared passively at the door.

Deidara looked on, quizzically.

"What's wrong with her, un?" He asked, genuinely confused.

Sasori turned to face his younger partner.

"Nothing you need to worry about now brat"

"Okay then…So, what about our mission, un?"

"Hn, we'll deal with that later. You're still in no condition to go anywhere." Sasori answered getting up.

"Alright…hey, where are you going, un?" Deidara asked as Sasori moved to the door.

"Just…to get something. Don't go anywhere." He said and before Deidara could make any sort of protest, he was gone.

Deidara stared blankly at the door.

"Well, he sure left quickly, un." He said to no one in particular.

* * *

**A/N: Yup, there we go :3 And just so everyone knows, Naoko is not related to Deidara but she may or may not know him :P Well, after this I'm not sure when the next chapter will be...probably by the end of next week or later. But, I'm working on a Halloween fanfic special with all the Akatsuki so look out for it! ^^  
**

**As always, special thanks to everyone who reviews, you make me so happy! :3**


	7. On Track?

**A/N: AIIII! I'M SOOOO SORRY! I KNOW IT'S BEEN FOREVER SINCE I POSTED A NEW CHAPPIE! I SOWWEE! T_T  
I kinda had shit going in my life though...got really depressed for a while about the stupid government being stupid and then about colleges...Then I got sick, blah, blah, blah. I'm sure no one really cares that much about my personal life so I'll skip the sob story :P**

**ANYWAYS! I gots myself a new computer so now that I'm out of emo mode maybe I'll post more? Maybe? I'm still freaking out about these damn colleges. They always need one more form. You think your application and standardized test scores are enough but noooo, they need MORE! Damnit...I hate applying to college -_-**

**ALSO! One more thing before we get on to the new chapter; I updated ALL of the old chapters in this fic. You might want to go read them...but you don't have to. It's not like there'll be anything you don't understand in the later chapters because of it. There was just some stuff I hated in the older chapters so I changed them. Mostly just minor grammatical changes...u_u**

**Welp, enough chit chat. I've kept you guys waiting long enough!**

**I don't own any of the Naruto characters!  
**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**_Mission Impossible_**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: On Track?**

* * *

Sasori had tried to follow Naoko but she seemingly disappeared. After searching for about ten minutes he decided it wasn't worth it and that he would go back up to his partner.

_Maybe we can just leave. Then we don't have to deal with her. That would be ideal..._

He started back up the stairs to his room when he remembered something.

_Oh right, the brat said he was hungry. I should get him something…_

Turning back, Sasori started looking around for something he could get his partner.

_Now, where can I go…_

Sasori rounded a corner and looked in surprise at what he saw. There was Naoko, talking with someone whose profile was hidden by the shadows.

_What. The. Hell? All of a sudden she turns up like this? And who the hell is she talking to?_

Quickly, Sasori masked his chakra and slipped into the shadows, making his way towards the two so that he might be able to hear what they were saying.

"…What did you learn?"

A masculine voice. He sounded slightly angry and annoyed, as if he had asked this question already.

"Nothing of importance. Nothing we didn't already know in any case." Naoko answered

"You lie." The man sneered"But you admit it was something?"

"I'm telling you, it was nothing important"

"Why are you even here, Naoko? What happened with the mission?"

"Here was closer than home and the weather was getting worse. The blonde killed the others and his partner killed Kyou"

"Kyou was too reckless. He had too much faith in that jutsu of his, especially considering his opponent. But, you say the blonde killed your partners? I thought he was supposed to be an easier target. Kyou said he was in no condition to fight; how the hell did you let yourselves get beaten?"

"Kyou apparently didn't account for his stamina and will to fight. Akatsuki are dangerous for a reason."

"That may be. But it doesn't excuse your performance. For kami's sake Naoko, _think_ about it for a minute. You were beaten by a child!"

"A _shinobi_ child, Kaito. You're the one who needs to think; why would he be in Akatsuki if he couldn't handle highly trained ninja?"

"Hmph. Whatever, it doesn't matter anyways. The mission has changed; we are no longer ordered to kill the Akatsuki members. The blonde apparently has some…_interesting_ abilities that the Head is after. We need him alive"

"What about the Akasuna?"

"Him too. The both of them. Think you can track them?"

"Yes, that's easy enough."

"So you already know then?"

"I do"

"Good. Come, let's meet with the others and discuss."

"I…"

"What is it? Oh…that's right. Well then, this will only take a minute. Nothing will be spoiled Naoko"

Sasori glared as the two ninja walked off. He had wanted to kill them as soon as he realized what was going on but their words had piqued his interest and he decided to let them continue. And it had paid off; he had gained some valuable information.

_I knew it. I knew that woman was against us. Conniving, double crossing…ugh, to hell with her!_

Something bothered Sasori though. Something was telling him that this wasn't right. He was missing some important piece of information. He had observed that when Naoko talked to the man she had been very short in her answers, almost as if she was doing it against her will though there was no visible sign of any emotion. Sasori figured he was just being too hyper observant, but it bothered him nonetheless.

After he had heard the conversation, he had wanted nothing more than to kill the two bastards then and there. But he knew this was unwise. From the way they had been talking, there were more of them around; who knew how many? He didn't want to risk a battle in that place.

_No, not worth it. Considering there could be a whole army of them, no. And then, wait a minute, Deidara…_

Sasori suddenly remembered his blonde partner and once again started back towards his room, this time remembering to get a bowl of soup from the kitchen for the kid.

_We have to leave. The sooner the better; then we can finish this damn mission and get back to the base. _

Sasori reached his room and entered slowly.

"Brat?"

Sasori glanced over to the bed and saw his partner had fallen asleep. Rolling his eyes, he walked over and placed the bowl down on the bedside table.

"Brat? Wake up." He said, shaking the blonde's shoulder a bit. Deidara didn't stir in the least but instead kept right on sleeping.

"Deidara, come on, get up."

Sasori shook the bomber's shoulder a little more roughly this time.

"Wake up already you idiot!" Sasori near shouted. Deidara stirred but only slightly.

"Brat! I swear if you're playing I'm going to-"

"Shaddup danna, I'm _trying _to sleep here, un." Deidara said groggily.

Sasori did not appreciate the answer.

"And I said get up! Before I get you up myself!"

"Whatever." Deidara mumbled, rolling over so that his back was towards Sasori.

"_Deidara!" _ Sasori shouted, menacingly.

"Fine, fine"

The blonde grumbled as he sat up and crossed his arms.

"What, un?"

Sasori looked his disgruntled partner over.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine I guess. Is that all you wanted to ask, un?" He coughed lightly.

Sasori slightly rolled his eyes.

"You look 'fine' alright."

"Shut up."

Sasori remembered the food he had brought for his partner.

"Here, you said you were hungry."

Deidara eyed the bowl.

"I guess…" He admitted, grabbing at it.

Sasori said nothing and only watched as Deidara ate.

"Hey, where'd Naoko-san go?" Deidara asked suddenly.

Honestly, this was one of the questions Sasori had hoped to avoid.

"She's not coming." He answered shortly.

"Why? What happened, un?"

_Stupid overly curious kid. Shut up already!_

"She's not coming." He repeated, with more force.

Deidara rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I got that part. Why? Did she yell at you again or something?"

"No idiot. She's working against us."

Deidara looked curiously at Sasori for a minute.

"I overheard her talking with someone about capturing us. Apparently this was all a façade."

"Oh"

Deidara went back to his soup as if this was all expected.

"Anyways, we need to leave." Sasori told his partner.

"I'd assume so, un." Deidara said without looking up.

"As soon as possible."

Deidara rolled his eyes again and placed his bowl on the table. Getting up and facing Sasori he said, "Yeah, your point, un?"

Sasori narrowed his eyes.

"What if we run into ANBU again?"

"What if? They're easy enough to get rid of, un."

"What about the weather? And the people Naoko is with, what about them?"

"Do you want to leave or not? I said I'm fine, let's go!"

Sasori only stared at Deidara, arms crossed.

_He says he's fine..._

Deidara coughed._  
_

_There's just that cough..._

"Sasori-danna, you said so yourself, we need to leave as soon as possible. Besides, Pein-sama won't be very happy if we don't start that mission soon. Unless you think we have time to waste. Though I was under the impression that you didn't like to wait on anything, un."

Sasori turned his gaze back towards his partner. Ice blue penetrated chocolate brown, challenging, daring him to disagree. He huffed out a breath. He hated it when the kid was right. And besides that, Deidara had just pointed out how Sasori had contradicted himself.

_Stupid brat. _

"Fine. Get ready. We'll go as soon as you're done."

Deidara smirked a bit and turned to put together his things. Sasori rolled his eyes and went to gather his own stuff. The brat had won this one but he'd get him later. He'd…Wait a minute, what was he thinking?

He snorted.

All that mattered was that they get the mission over with. He had more important things to worry about. He supposed he could admit the blonde was right…for now.

* * *

"_Sasori_ _no danna_! Why can't we fly? It would be much quicker, come on, un!"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I say so now shut up!"

Deidara quickened his pace so that he was in front of Hiroku, walking backwards.

"You just want to stay in that ugly puppet of yours, un."

"Shut up brat. It's impractical. There are too many trees around here."

"Tch, that's not a reason! We'll just fly over them, un."

"And what if somebody spots us?"

"Who the hell is out this far to spot us? It's not like we're being followed or anything. Plus, what if they spotted us? Not a lot of people would be able to reach us, un."

"Deidara…"

"Come on danna, it would be faster, un!"

"I SAID NO BRAT NOW SHUT UP!"

"Hmph, you're no fun, un."

Deidara stuck his tongue out at Sasori and returned to his normal pace. It hadn't taken long for the bomber and the puppet master to return to their old bickering. Of course, as soon as they had left Deidara had wanted to fly right to their destination. But Sasori insisted on them walking.

Deidara thought his partner was being unfair. Sasori got to use _his _art, but Deidara wasn't allowed. The blonde crossed his arms and muttered under his breath. This was why he hated travelling. Sasori could be such a jerk sometimes.

Sighing, he looked around at the landscape. At least the weather hadn't been doing anything lately. Still, Deidara was beginning to get bored of it all. They had been walking almost nonstop for the past five days, trying to make up for lost time. And, for the most part, they were back on track. With the time they were making they should reach the gulley by the end of the day. Deidara thought it was funny considering it had taken them two weeks to get all the way out there. Then again, he supposed it had mostly been due to the inclement weather which, thankfully, they had none of on the way back.

Hours passed and finally, _finally, _the two Akatsuki made it back to the gulley. Sasori stopped at the edge as did Deidara. The blonde looked down the cliff face and for the first time realized just how far it went.

_I sincerely hope Sasori's not going to make us climb all the way down and then back up again. _

Sasori got out of Hiroku.

"Brat"

"Yes danna?"

"_Now_ we can fly."

"Yes danna!"

_Well finally! _

In seconds Deidara had a bird set and ready.

"Just over the gap, brat."

Sasori told his partner.

"But Sasori-danna!"

"Shut up. You can use it after that if you want but you're letting me off. We have a few more hours left of travel after we get over this thing."

"Oh, un."

_And he doesn't want to be stuck on my 'flying contraption.' I get it. _

Deidara rolled his eyes but did as Sasori told him.

_Well, at least he's letting me use it now. _

Deidara and Sasori continued on in silence for another hour or so after reaching the other side of gap. Deidara had been taking in the topography of the place again and wondered just how this side of the cliff managed to be so flat while the other end was a forest of trees and hills.

"Danna?" He asked suddenly.

"What brat?"

"How much further do we have to go, un?"

"We're not getting there tonight if that's what you're thinking."

"That's not what I asked, un."

"Shut up brat."

"Well?"

"I just told you to shut up."

"I don't feel like it, un." Deidara said waving his hand in the air.

"Deidara"

"No, un"

Sasori muttered something but didn't say anything.

"So, how long, un?" Deidara asked again.

"At this rate never. Stop asking stupid questions; you know just as well as I do that it depends!"

"Well, what if nothing happens? No weather, no ANBU; how long, un?"

"That won't happen."

"Hypothetically speaking, un"

"Hypothetically, never. For you at least, considering you won't shut up."

"Hey! Sasori-danna!"

Sasori only continued walking.

"Well, anyways, _hypothetically, _how long will it take all obstacles aside? How-"

"Sh!"

"But Sa-"

"Shut up brat!" Sasori hissed. "Mask your chakra! Hurry up!"

_Wait, what? What's-Oh shit!_

All at once Deidara noticed an ominous sort of presence in the area. He wasn't sure what it was but he knew it couldn't be good. It wasn't ANBU, no, it was worse than ANBU. Quickly, he did as Sasori told him and lowered his bird so it was closer to his partner.

"What-" He began in an almost whisper.

"Shut. Up. Brat. Don't talk yet. I don't know what." Sasori interrupted in a low voice.

"But what do we-"

"Deidara. Shut. Up."

"But do we just wait for it to make the first move or what? There are no defendable positions out here, un."

"Brat, I have seriously lost my patience with you. Shut up unless you want it to find us. Just keep moving. Hopefully it hasn't noticed or _heard_ us yet." Sasori hissed in a whisper, putting extra emphasis on the last part.

Deidara was not really happy with his partner's treatment of him. Still, he knew this was hardly the time to argue so he shut his mouth and continued flying silently ahead.

For a few minutes, there was complete silence. During this time the presence did not fade but only grew more and more overwhelming. Deidara thought it, whatever _it_ was, was following them. No, he _knew_ it was following them.

"Sasori-danna_…"_ He started in what he thought was an almost inaudible whisper.

"I know" Sasori answered, matching the blonde's tone.

Deidara frowned, trying to think. Honestly, whoever or whatever this was, he had never felt so much chakra all at once. And it was strong, he could tell.

All at once a mighty explosion rocked the plain, sending Deidara's bird off course as it shook violently in the air causing the young Akatsuki to lose his balance and fall towards the ground. He landed upright and began to cough as smoke and grit filled his lungs.

_Huh! Well, they definitely have style. But, how the hell did they manage it?_

"DEIDARA!" Sasori shouted angrily.

Deidara looked around the smoke filled area and saw that Sasori had also been taken by surprise.

"It wasn't me, un!" The blonde answered defensively.

_Though I almost wish it was. _

The smoke started clearing and Sasori stalked up to the blonde, glaring at him.

"Then what?" Sasori asked, as if he didn't believe Deidara. Which, the blonde assumed, he probably didn't.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? Geez Sasori-danna, I'm just as surprised as you are, un."

Sasori simply stared at his partner, looking as if he wanted to say something.

He never got the chance for just then another, smaller, explosion happened. The two Akatsuki jumped back just in time to miss the deadly blast.

"Great, just what I love the most." Sasori muttered.

Both shinobi had taken up fighting stances now and pulled out their weapons.

"Yeah, so you should be good at this then, un." Deidara said with a smirk.

"Shut up brat. Where is he?"

Deidara frowned.

"I don't know, un…"

The two scanned the area around them but could see no sign of anyone in the vicinity. Still, the presence from before lingered.

"Where the hell could he be?" Sasori hissed. "It's not like there's a lot of places to hide."

"Yo, coward! Come out and fight! Or are you too scared, un?!" Deidara shouted out.

Nothing. And, all at once, the presence faded. Slowly, the Akatsuki lowered their weapons a bit but stayed on their guard.

"Deidara"

"Yeah"

The blonde created a new bird sculpture, and after getting into the air, started scanning the area with his scope.

Sasori, in the meanwhile, began picking up pieces that had been blown off Hiroku while searching the ground.

Deidara continued to look but found nothing. Not even a trace of the presence felt earlier. He was beginning to wonder if the whole incident had been imagined when he felt _something_ behind him.

Immediately he tensed up as he felt a hot breath on his neck. Surreptitiously, he placed a hand in one of his clay pouches and began to mold. He stopped once he felt a hand on his wrist.

"It's useless, you know." A voice, full of malice, whispered behind him.

Deidara whipped his body around and pulled out his hand, throwing a hastily made bomb at whoever had been standing there.

Pure shock registered on the blonde's face as he realized, there was no one there. Deidara looked around but could see no one.

"Danna!" Deidara called down uncertainly to his partner. "Did you sense that?"

"Sense what?"

"_That_, just now. There was someone behind me, un."

Sasori looked curiously at the blonde.

"There's no one there brat."

"I know that! But there _was!_"

Sasori shook his head.

"I didn't notice anything."

_Am I being paranoid?_

"Deidara! Behind you!" Sasori shouted.

"Huh?"

Quickly, he whirled around, slightly annoyed that he hadn't sensed anyone, and saw a blur dashing off to his right.

"Oh no you don't, un!" He shouted and started off after whoever it was.

"Brat! Get back here!"

"He's getting away danna! Come on, un!" Deidara shouted over his shoulder.

Behind him, Deidara could hear Sasori grumbling as he began to follow after the blonde. Deidara picked up his pace a bit.

_Whoever it is…they're fast!_

A volley of weapons was suddenly sent back towards the two Akatsuki. Easily, the two dodged. In retaliation, Deidara sent some explosives towards their target.

After the blasts cleared, Deidara sensed that the ninja in front of them stopped moving. He slowed his pace and eventually came to a complete stop as he saw something lying in a crumpled heap about three hundred yards in front of him.

Sasori landed next to the blonde.

"That was too easy."

Deidara nodded in agreement. Using his scope, he started zooming in on the figure but stopped when it faded. He exchanged a look with Sasori and went forward to investigate.

"Must have been some sort of clone, un." He remarked after they reached the area.

Sasori sniffed and looked around.

"Where the hell did he go?" The puppet master hissed.

Deidara shrugged and began scanning the area as well. Out of nowhere countless amounts of perfectly aimed kunai came flying at them.

"Danna!"

Sasori whirled around and quickly pulled out a couple scrolls, using the puppets that came out to deflect some of the oncoming weapons.

Deidara jumped up and landed on his bird, flying off towards the source of the weapons.

_I won't lose you this time!_

Deidara chased after the ninja in front of him for what felt like hours. He didn't even know if Sasori was still keeping up on the ground below; he hadn't bothered to check. All he cared about was catching up with whoever it was that attacked them and then beating the shit out of them.

Every so often, the pursued would toss back weapons which Deidara would easily dodge and then retaliate with one of his bombs. He had just sent one of his works of art over when suddenly he saw some sort of fire type jutsu coming at him. He managed to just narrowly dodge the technique when more weapons were thrown his way.

Pulling out a kunai of his own, he was able to block and dodge the weaponry, allowing only one kunai to scrape his shoulder.

_It's a lot of weapons and stuff but…it seems to easy…is he…playing with us?_

Urging his bird on even faster he soon followed the ninja to the outskirts of a village. And, like the times before, the presence of the ninja suddenly vanished. Deidara scanned the area once, twice, and three times over. But there was no sign of the ninja. Slowly, he landed his bird on the edge of the village and turned, looking for Sasori.

Looking around and seeing nobody, he called out, "Sasori no danna!"

_Damn…I forgot I go faster when flying…he's probably still back there somewhere. Well, I suppose I'll just wait here until he catches up. _

Out of the corner of his eye, Deidara saw a black blur heading into the village. He immediately started towards it but stopped in front of the entrance, turning to look back out at the landscape.

_I probably should wait for Sasori…but…if I don't go now I might lose our lead! Besides, I could always find Sasori later. _

Nodding to himself, he slipped inside the village, masking his chakra. He began making his way silently through the place, sticking to the shadows and hoping not to attract too much attention. Snow crunched lightly under his feet and shadows started fading away, indicating that night was near. A few loiterers hung around here and there but the blonde judged that most everyone was home at this hour. After all, nighttime was upon them and the temperature was dropping quickly.

He thought he saw someone dash down an alleyway and immediately quickened his pace to the place where he had seen the person disappear. Without a moment's hesitation, he turned down the dark, narrow street, hoping to find who he was looking for.

The street seemed to go on for a long time. Eventually, the sun set completely and Deidara was left in the darkness. There were no street lights, or at least not down there and Deidara couldn't see if there were any behind him.

He cursed. He didn't mind the dark; dark was a ninja's best friend. All the same, it was much easier to see when there was at least _a little _light. Now it would be harder to detect movement from his prey which was already elusive enough.

Cautiously, he continued down the alleyway, using all five of his senses to find the ninja he was chasing. But he found nothing. He was about to turn and head back to wait for Sasori when he sensed it, that presence yet again.

Stiffening, he tried to figure out which direction the ninja was in as he silently prepared some clay.

"Come now, Deidara, I already told you, it's useless." The same voice from earlier said.

"How the hell do you know me? Show yourself, bastard! I'll blast you to pieces, un!" Deidara spat back.

The voice made a clicking noise.

"Now, now, is that anyway to treat your elders? You could stand to learn a few manners." The other responded in a sinister tone.

"Screw you. How's that? Gonna stop hiding like a little girl yet, un?" The young Akatsuki hissed.

"I'm afraid not. And from my position, you're the little girl."

"Shut up! Come out and fight! I'll show you what I can do! You'll be pleading for mercy, un!"

"My, that touched a nerve. Though I doubt you even match my level of skill." The voice drawled lazily.

_That's it!_

"Don't underestimate me! I'm not weak! My art will take you down!"

With that, Deidara sent a volley of explosions in the direction he guessed the voice was coming from. For a brief moment, the street was illuminated and Deidara saw the vague shape of a shinobi off to his left. As the blackness returned, he molded more bombs and threw them towards the ninja. He saw the bombs light up the night once again and saw them hit their mark. He smirked.

A kick from behind suddenly changed that as he was sent flying into something hard.

"Such an impertinent youth" The voice sighed as Deidara quickly sprang back up.

_How the hell? I saw my bombs hit him! Then again…it is rather dark…_

"Who the hell are you?"

"That's for me to know and you to never find out. However…"

Deidara tensed as he suddenly felt the ninja's presence behind him. He tried to turn but realized the other had his wrist twisted painfully behind his back and a firm hand on his shoulder, rendering him incapable of turning.

"…I will say this. You know far more than you can realize, now, or ever."

Deidara hissed and struggled to break free but the ninja was strong and only tightened his grip around the blonde's wrist.

"None of that now. I wasn't finished."

Deidara kept on struggling but stopped when the ninja leaned his head in so that his mouth was next to Deidara's ear.

"If you want to come out of this alive, you will do exactly as I say. You will not chase me. You will go back and find your partner and you will bring him inside this village. You will not tell him why you are here and you will not tell him about this little encounter, understand?"

_What a creep. _

Deidara turned his head so that he could see the glint of the other ninja's eyes in the darkness. He spat in the shinobi's face.

"You can't threaten me. I'm not afraid of you. And I will _not_ do anything _you_ tell me, least of people! I'm not afraid to die, un!" He retorted.

The other whipped back and snarled. Squeezing the blonde's wrist even harder, he pulled Deidara back by his grip on the blonde's shoulder, slamming Deidara's head into his armored shoulder.

"Have it your way, insolent brat. It will all happen with or without your cooperation. I simply offered you a way to make things easier on yourself _as well as _your partner. May I suggest though, if you value anything in this life, you _will_ keep that obstreperous mouth of yours sealed tightly shut about this incident. Because trust me when I say, from this moment on, _your life will be a living hell." _

The ninja's words were so laced with venom and spite that Deidara almost shuddered.

"And, you don't want to make any of that worse for _either_ of you, do you? No, you don't." Here he laughed sadistically.

_He's insane! And pure evil…I've done my share of crime but this guy is just seeped in hatred!_

Suddenly, the laughing stopped.

"Well, it's been _wonderful_ talking to you, Deidara." The shinobi began again, genteel voice masking malice.

"Be a good boy now and behave, remember what I told you." He laughed lightly and suddenly, he gave a quick, hard turn on Deidara's wrist.

A sickening snap was heard. Deidara bit down on his tongue and tasted blood as the ninja behind him began twisting the blonde's wrist even more. Several more snaps were heard and Deidara hissed as he felt more bones in his arm bending beyond their limits.

"What? No screaming? Maybe you aren't as girly as you look. Let's test this theory shall we?"

He started twisting the blonde's wrist again but before he got very far, Deidara managed to stomp on the ninja's foot which caused him to loosen the grip on Deidara's shoulder. Deidara then elbowed the shinobi in the gut and started to break away but was pulled back by his hair; his head once again slamming into the shinobi's armor.

"Hmph. Confident much? But that's what will get you killed. Anyways, I have business to attend to. Just remember, I _will_ know if you tell anyone. So be good." And with that, the ninja was gone.

Slowly, Deidara got up hugging his injured arm to his body. As quickly as he had come, he made his way back down the street and into the main part of the village. For a minute, Deidara was almost blinded by the lights in the place after being down in the dark alley for so long. Eventually though, his eyes adjusted and he made his way back towards the village entrance.

Upon arriving he saw no one there and let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

_So Sasori must not have gotten here yet?_

"Brat! There you are! You idiot, why'd you go running off like that? Did you even think to wait?"

_Speak of the devil._

"Whatever. Sorry danna, I just didn't want to stop chasing him, un."

"Did it do you any good in the end? Did you find him?"

The shinobi's words suddenly flashed through Deidara's mind. He told himself it was nonsense, that he should tell Sasori all about it, but for whatever reason, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"I…followed him here, un."

"And then?"

"Well, then I couldn't find him so I was waiting for you, un."

"Don't lie to me Deidara. I've been here for a good fifteen minutes and you just got back here."

"I-I'm not lying! I just got bored of waiting and decided to look around a bit, un."

Sasori raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to your arm then?" He asked, noting the way Deidara held it against his body.

"Huh? Oh…nothing…" Deidara answered quickly, dropping his arm but wincing as he did so.

"Hm, well, we'll stay here for tonight I guess. It's as good a place as any. Did you find anywhere to stay in your wanderings?"

"NO! I mean, uh…"

Sasori crossed his arms and stared at the blonde.

"You…don't really want to stay here. Place is crawling with ANBU. Better to stay outside the village, un." Deidara said with a decisive nod of his head.

"What happened?" Sasori deadpanned.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me Deidara. What happened? I know you. You'd rather stay in a village with ten thousand ANBU then sleep on the ground if it came down to that."

"_Nothing_ happened, un!"

"Good, let's go."

"No!" Deidara almost shouted, stepping in front of Sasori.

Sasori looked the blonde up and down. Finally, he grabbed Deidara's injured arm causing Deidara to hiss in pain.

"Deidara…"

"What, un?"

"How. Did. This. Happen?"

"How did what happen, danna, un?"

"Don't play dumb with me, brat. Your wrist and arm are badly broken. What happened?"

"I, um, fell, un."

"You fell?"

"Yeah"

"How?"

"Um, I was looking for that ninja we were chasing and it got dark…so I accidentally tripped and fell on my wrist, un."

"I don't buy it."

"But-"

"Shut up brat. You know better than to lie to me. Come on." He began dragging Deidara by his other arm towards the village.

"We're staying here and you are telling me what happened."

Deidara ripped his arm out of Sasori's grasp.

"And what if I don't want to, un?"

"Deidara. I do not have time to play games with you. Now come on; your arm needs bandaging."

Reluctantly, Deidara followed after Sasori, clutching his injured arm to his chest. As he entered the village, he swore that he saw a face smiling sadistically at him from one of the shadows.

* * *

**A/N: Ah, only one POV change this time...I love it...xD The alleyway; cliche much? Alright, HOW MANY PEOPLE HERE THOUGHT THE CREEPY GUY WAS GUNNA RAPE DEIDARA IN THE ALLEY? **

**Seriously, I wanna know, anyone think that? ._. My brother did...when I showed him that part. Maybe it's just a brother thing though, I don't know! It's why I'm asking...xD**

**Also, I will give anyone who can guess creepo's true identity an interwebz cookie. And interwebz cookies are very good. :3**

**Oooh Naoko...the plot thickens. Come on! It wasn't going to be that easy for her! Plus, I want Sasori to hate her more...**

**And Deidara keeps getting into trouble. Silly Deidara...him and Sasori this whole chapter were just reminding me of how my brother and I act. Literally. We act like that. With less ninja stuff...xD**

**Special thanks to everyone who's been reviewing/watching/reading this so far! And again, my sincerest apologies for being so late!**

**Please R&R! :3**

**~Bria**


	8. Why?

**A/N: Hey! Sorry it took so long with this chapter! School and Christmas preparations got in the way. Wanted to have this chapter out by Christmas but I got really sick for a while so I couldn't write. But I'm fine now so here's the next chapter! Also, I changed my username for security issues. But I'm still Bria, just under a different name. :3**

**Soooo...lots of things happen in this chapter. I had fun writing it. Mostly done in Sasori's POV this time. I wanted to show that he's not as much of a heartless bastard as he'd like everyone to believe. See, each personality has two sides. The way we think and the way we act. I guess this is how Sasori thinks? I'm not Sasori though so I wouldn't know! **

**Also, do remember that this fic is set 2 years before Sasori died which is why the ages are messed up. Though I'm not actually sure if I'm going to stick canon with that...I might just make it anime time in the end...ah well, we'll see. Also, yes, I know Deidara's birthday, remember that they're in a cold climate which is why there's snow in like, July. Or assume that I'm not going canon on that little detail. Whatever floats your boat; I haven't decided myself yet either _ **

**I hope I didn't make the characters too OOC...I was hoping to convey some sort of brother/best friend-ish relationship between Sasori and Deidara...so I hope that didn't get in the way of things. **

**Alright, I've talked long enough! On to the chapter!**

**I don't own Sasori or Deidara sadly _**

* * *

_**Mission Impossible**_

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Why?**

* * *

Deidara was many things but he wasn't a liar. Sure he could be tricky or deceptive when he wanted to, but Sasori had not once known the blonde to just outright lie. Especially not to him. Furthermore, Deidara just wouldn't talk to Sasori. Deidara had been silent the whole time while Sasori had tried to ask the blonde about exactly what happened. But Deidara just wouldn't answer his prompts and Sasori felt like they had been thrown through some role reversal.

It made the puppet master angry and slightly worried to know that his partner was hiding something from him. What could have happened in the short amount of time they had been separated to make Deidara act this way?

And what had happened to the blonde's arm? Did he have an encounter with an enemy or something? It was more than just a fall. And no matter what Sasori thought, Deidara wasn't clumsy enough to trip and break his wrist. That fact mixed with the amount of damage that had been done; it was more than just a fall.

"Stupid brat." Sasori muttered under his breath.

He was busy fixing Hiroku, or trying to. The many pieces it had been blown into was not making this easy. If Sasori had to pick, this mission would probably be the one where he had to fix Hiroku the most times in one month. Stupid missions.

Sasori heard his partner get up from where he had been sitting and cross the floor to the door.

"Where are you going?" He asked without looking up.

"Out, un."

"Out?"

"Yeah"

"Where?"

"Damnit danna! I'm not a child; I don't need you to babysit me, un!"

_Could have me fooled._

"Calm down brat. What if I need to find you quickly? It's not like I'm going to stalk you or something."

_Though that might not be a bad idea considering what's been going on lately…_

"I'll be right back. I can take care of myself, un!"

_Sure…_

Deidara stormed off towards the door.

"Deidara!" Sasori shouted and turned to face his partner. The blonde stopped, fingertips lightly touching the doorknob.

"What is going on here?"

"_Nothing_" Deidara hissed. "I'll be back, un."

And with that Deidara flung the door open then slammed it behind him before Sasori could get another word in.

Sasori sat momentarily stunned. Something was really not right here. He shook his head and turned back to Hiroku. If Deidara wouldn't tell him, then fine. It wasn't his problem.

But it was.

Sasori slammed his tools down and looked towards the door, frowning.

_Stupid kid. _

He thought about chasing after the blonde. It wasn't something he really wanted to do but leaving this for later might not be a good thing. Then again, he wasn't entirely sure Deidara would be very pleased if Sasori went out and dragged him back.

Sasori sighed and picked up his tools again. Deidara said he would be right back, right? So Sasori would wait until then. Maybe leaving the blonde to cool off would be for the best. He could hope.

* * *

Deidara stormed out the inn to well, who knows where? He just needed a moment to _think_ without Sasori. He didn't like this place. Not at all. He wanted to leave but how to do that without telling his partner what happened was the question.

The fact that he _desperately_ wanted to tell his partner was not helping matters. He told himself that he was being stupid. That he should tell Sasori, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Looking up, Deidara noticed that he managed to wander into some less populated area of the town.

_Hmph, maybe I should go back now…_

He turned to go when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He looked back to see, nothing. Eyes narrowed, he turned once more to leave when he again saw something flash in his peripheral vision.

_I should ignore this…_

He looked back once again and his eyes settled on some sort of old storehouse. It looked abandoned to him but he saw something moving in one of the upper windows.

Curiosity fully aroused by now, he went to investigate. Quickly assessing the area he couldn't sense anyone, but he knew well enough that it didn't mean nobody was there.

He entered the building and was momentarily blinded by the darkness but his eyes quickly adjusted.

_This place hasn't been used in years. _

He looked around but couldn't really see anything, or at least any signs that anyone else was around.

_Alright, time to figure this out then go. I thought I saw something moving in the upper windows…should go upstairs…_

Quietly, he found a set of stairs and slowly ascended them. Even though he moved lightly and silently, the old stairs still creaked a bit and he cringed every time he landed on one that made noise. A few of the stairs also happened to be missing. Luckily, there was at least a little light filtering in through the cracks so he could see where the holes were.

_Definitely hasn't been used in years. I…really should go now…_

He made it to the top of the stairs and looked around. There wasn't much to see considering it was almost completely dark. There were bits of light coming up from the stairs but next to none from the windows since they were so caked with dust and who knows what else.

He breathed in the stale air. Maybe it had just been a figment of his imagination. There was no one up here as far as he could tell and he suddenly didn't really feel like searching through the darkness to find something. He turned to leave when he suddenly felt a gust of air behind him. Eyes widening, he spun around.

_That most certainly didn't come from an open window. There can't be any open up here…the air's too stale. That means…_

"Who's there?" He asked, his voice breaking the stillness and echoing back towards him.

No answer.

"I said, who's there, un?" He put his hand in his clay pouch and pulled some out. Just in case…

"You just can't seem to keep yourself out of trouble, can you Deidara?"

_That voice…I knew I should have left!_

"You! What do you want, un?"

"Oh, I don't know. I thought maybe I could offer you a second chance at my offer. Since I'm such a nice guy and all, you know?"

Deidara couldn't feel the other ninja's presence. He must have had it masked. But he could almost see the evil smirk that would be playing on the other's face right about now.

"Sorry to disappoint but I already told you no, un."

"So you didn't learn from last time then? Such a shame. Do I need to break your other arm too? Or maybe something else this time…"

Deidara growled.

"Stop hiding and fight like a man you coward, un!"

"I don't really feel like it right now."

"Fine then."

Deidara was about ready to toss some explosives where he judged the ninja to be coming from but before he could do anything the other said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Unless, of course, you plan on dying within the next five minutes."

"In case you hadn't noticed we're in an abandoned building that hasn't been used in years. The floors on the upper levels aren't so stable not to mention the heavy equipment that could fall from your explosions. On top of that, the wood is dry and the slightest spark would cause the whole building to go up in flames."

Deidara clenched his teeth and put the clay away. He didn't like to admit it, but the ninja was right. Instead, he pulled out a kunai.

"Oh well, I didn't come here to chat though. I was simply offering you another chance but if you won't take it I suppose there's nothing I can do. I trust you'll be quiet about this incident as well because, well, let's just say you won't like the consequences otherwise."

Finally, Deidara thought he had a good enough idea as to where the ninja was. Taking quiet aim, he flung his weapon. When he heard the other give a slight gasp of pain a moment later, he knew he had been right. He was beside the ninja in an instant, smirking and holding another kunai to his opponent's throat.

"I'm not as weak as you think, un." He hissed.

The ninja growled lowly.

"Oh really?"

Quick as lightening, Deidara found the kunai knocked out of his hand and on the other end of the room. Before he knew it, the other had grabbed his injured arm out of the sling it had been in, slamming it to the ground causing Deidara to fall forward and gasp in pain. Soon, Deidara found their positions had been reversed as the ninja now held his injured arm in an iron grip to ground with a kunai poised across _his_ neck.

"Should have killed me when you had the chance kid. Now, what should I do to you…Oh don't worry, I'm not going to kill you just yet, you're too useful. But such acts cannot go unpunished."

_Sick bastard._

Thoughts swarmed Deidara's mind, thinking how he could get out of this. He needed to get back soon. Sasori was suspicious enough and he said he'd be right back. He'd already taken too long.

"Let's see…"

He wasn't even sure he could get up. His arm hurt and he didn't want to risk further injury to it by trying to release it from the ninja's grasp. His other arm was pinned underneath him and he wasn't sure he could move it without having the other notice.

"Tell me, Deidara, what would you do, were you in my position?"

"Tch, what kind of game are you pulling here? Stop wasting my time and finish whatever you're going to do so I can leave, un."

The ninja pressed the blade of the kunai to Deidara's neck and he could feel a small amount of blood leaking out.

"That's not the right answer."

"Excuse me. I didn't know we were having a pop quiz, un."

The ninja laughed.

"You think that's funny, eh kid? But I'm not so sure everyone shares your humor."

Suddenly, Deidara managed to bring his legs around and kick the ninja in the face. The man growled in pain and Deidara felt the kunai sink a little deeper into his neck but also felt the man's grip on his arm release. Quickly, he flipped himself over and knocked the kunai out of his opponent's hand. Then, before the ninja could react, he sent another kick towards the man's stomach and then ran.

He didn't stop until he reached the inn, slamming the door to the room he was staying in with Sasori behind himself. Sasori looked up from what he was doing and glanced the disoriented blonde over.

"What happened?"

Deidara shook his head and sank down with his back to the door, pulling up his Akatsuki cloak a bit in hopes that Sasori wouldn't see the injury there. He was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded.

"Deidara, what happened?"

"Nothing, un."

"Then why were you running?"

"Because…"

"And what did you do to your arm?"

It was then Deidara noticed his injured arm was hanging limply by his side and that some of the bandaging had come undone.

"I…"

"Honestly Deidara-wait, what the hell happened to your neck? Don't tell me that was an accident."

Sasori got up.

_Ah, damnit…he saw…_

"I…"

Deidara struggled to think of an excuse to tell Sasori. He started to get up but as he did so the whole room spun. He felt himself fall forward, expecting to hit the ground, but was surprised when the impact never came. He tilted his head to see Sasori's face over his. Sasori seemed to be saying something and he didn't seem happy. But Deidara just couldn't hear the words. Slowly, he shook his head and closed his eyes as he fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Brat! Are you deaf or something? What the hell were you doing out there? Deidara! Seriously, stop playing games! What happened? If you don't tell me I'm going to-"

Sasori stopped mid-rant as he noticed Deidara slightly shaking his head and falling back into Sasori's arms, unconscious.

"Damnit!" He shouted to no one in particular.

Quickly, he moved his partner over to one of the beds and pulled the blonde's Akatsuki cloak off to get a better look at the injury. It wasn't too deep but it was bleeding profusely. As long as Sasori acted quickly, Deidara would be fine.

Without even thinking about it, Sasori tore off some of the bed sheets and applied them to the blonde's injury. He was more relieved than he thought he would be when it stopped only a few minutes later and he cleaned and bandaged the wound. Then he moved to re-bandage the blonde's arm. Finishing up, he sat back and crossed his arms.

The brat would be explaining things to him, once he woke up. And he better not have some corny excuse. One didn't just _get_ injuries like that and Sasori knew somehow that it had been no accident.

The real mystery here was not how Deidara got the injuries, but why he wasn't telling Sasori _anything._ Deidara loved to talk if only to hear his own voice but he had been abnormally quiet ever since they had come to this place.

Deidara began to stir.

_You've got some explaining to do kid._

"Deidara, wake up."

The blonde groaned a bit and slowly began opening his eyes. He shifted his position a little and closed his eyes again, letting out a soft moan.

"Deidara, come on, Deidara, wake up."

Deidara opened his eyes again and noticed Sasori.

"Danna, un?"

He still looked pale from the blood loss.

"Sit up." Sasori commanded.

Nodding, Deidara pushed himself into a sitting position. Sasori pressed a glass of water to his lips.

"Drink"

Deidara did so and after he was finished Sasori pushed him back down.

"You feel alright?"

Deidara nodded a bit.

"Good. Now, what happened?"

Deidara didn't say anything but turned his gaze away from Sasori.

"Deidara?"

Silence.

"I'm waiting."

"I…can't tell you, un."

What?

"And why not?"

"Because…because I can't, un."

"I'm pretty sure you are physically capable of telling me what happened, Deidara. I don't think you want to."

"I do!"

"Then spit it out."

"But I _can't,_ un."

"Do you not trust me?"

"No! I mean, yes, I mean…you're the only person I trust…un…" Deidara muttered.

_This isn't going anywhere…_

"Alright, look, we'll start over. How did you manage to break your arm?"

"I was attacked, un…"

"Attacked?"

"Yeah"

"By?"

"I don't know"

"You don't know."

"A ninja I guess…I dunno…un."

"Did you see them?"

"No, it was dark, un."

"Hm, and your neck?"

"I got into a fight…sort-of…un."

"With?"

"…"

"Deidara."

"The same person, un."

"So the same ninja attacked and injured you twice?"

"I guess…"

"Yes or no."

"Yes, un."

"What did you do to them?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know who they are?"

"No."

"You don't have any idea?"

"…"

"Deidara?"

"It was the ninja we were chasing earlier…un."

"Did he say anything to you?"

"…"

"Deidara?"

"…"

"Deidara!"

"I've already said too much…un…"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Can we go now, please danna, can't we just leave, un?"

"Seriously Deidara, I can't read your mind, what the hell is going on?"

"Please, can we just leave, un?"

Sasori opened his mouth to respond but then, it hit him. Deidara would never admit it, and if Sasori brought it up then he would probably be met with his partner's rage and denial, but the blonde was _scared_ of something or someone. How he knew this, he didn't know, but he could just sense it. Now here was an issue the Akasuna did not know how to deal with in the least.

Maybe he could try to get Deidara to admit that something was wrong. Then he might be able to figure out this whole mess. It was worth a shot.

"What's wrong with this place?"

"Nothing. I don't like it here. Can we go, un?"

"If there's nothing wrong with it then how come you want to leave so badly?"

"Because…"

"Yes?"

"Well…because…"

Sasori waited while Deidara tried to come up with a plausible excuse.

"We should just go, un…"

_This isn't working…_

Sasori glanced his partner over who was still slightly pale and was looking away from Sasori.

"Deidara, come on. What did that ninja say to you that you can't tell me? Is it all that bad?"

"…"

"Deidara…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Please?..."

"He…wanted me to help him, with what I don't know. But he said I had to bring you into the village and then not say anything to you because otherwise it would be really bad for both of us. I told him no but he said I still had to be quiet about it all if…if I valued anything in this life, un. Then I ran into him again earlier today. I didn't mean to, I was just trying to think about it, but I did. He gave me another chance to help him again but I said no and tried to attack him but I didn't kill him…so he ended up trapping me for a minute instead but then I got away and ran back here. So can we go now, un?"

Deidara blurted it all out rather hurriedly and was left panting. Sasori was silent for a moment.

Whoever this ninja was, they _had_ to be powerful if they could injure Deidara then threaten the blonde to a point where the kid actually believed they could follow through on those threats. And, something about this bugged Sasori.

_Was he, worried? About, __**me**__? Why the hell…_

If this was all that was bugging the blonde then Sasori saw no reason to be worried. Really, the blonde knew he could take care of himself. And he Sasori knew that Deidara was uncaring about any physical threats.

A second realization came to Sasori. The kid was, well, a kid. Sasori thought he would have figured this by now, what with the way he treated the blonde sometimes, but quite honestly, he had forgotten. And, well, if he thought about it, it only made logical sense. He wasn't entirely sure the blonde had a family and even if he did, what kind of a family? Did Deidara see _him_ as a sort of family? If he was totally honest, he knew the blonde was rather attached to him. So why did this surprise him so much?

"Deidara…"

The blonde turned to face him. His ice blue eyes seemed to be almost pleading with Sasori. Sasori wanted to yell at the kid. He wanted to berate him for what had happened, for not telling him, for being so, so _stupid_. But for some reason, he just couldn't. Instead he slowly placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"Just tell me next time."

Deidara nodded.

"Alright then," He got up "Get some sleep. You experienced some heavy blood loss and need to rest. We'll go once you wake up."

Deidara nodded again and lay back, falling asleep within minutes. Sasori looked the blonde over once more before getting back to work on Hiroku.

_He's exhausted. Who is this ninja and what does he want with us? He must be strong to do this to an Akatsuki…to Deidara. Hmph. Do we have to deal with him now too? What about our mission?_

Sasori had half a mind to call the whole mission off and just go back to Pein telling him they failed. They probably had considering how long this had been taking. Why did Pein need information on such a small village anyways? What was so important there that he had to send a team of Akatsuki instead of just Zetsu? He didn't know and frankly didn't care. He just wanted it to be over with so they could move on to the next task. Or take a break or something. He had a feeling he would be requesting, no, _highly suggesting_, that Pein give him and his partner a _long_ break from missions of any sort after this all was done. Certainly this whole escapade had taken years of his life not to mention he wasn't exactly sure that Deidara could handle much more of this either.

* * *

"Alright, so look, no more running off, no more getting lost, and no more chasing ninja. So just, no, no more _distractions_, alright?"

"Right danna, un."

"Good. Let's try to have an, _uneventful_ journey for once. Okay?"

"Okay, un."

Sasori and Deidara travelled in silence for the first few hours. Eventually, as the distance between the two and the town grew larger, Deidara started once again making conversation. Sasori was relieved that the blonde seemed to be himself again, but did he have to be so annoying? Why couldn't he be quiet _and_ normal? Well, Sasori supposed he had never really heard of a _normal_ teenager. Wait a minute, Deidara was a teenager, right? He thought so, but he wasn't sure. If he was…

"Deidara."

Deidara stopped chattering for a moment.

"What, un?"

He didn't sound too happy to be interrupted about…well, whatever he had been talking about. Sasori vaguely remembered it being something about his so-called "art" but the blonde's ideas on that were messed up anyways. Sasori would have to correct him later.

"How old are you?"

His partner gave him a confused look and answered, "Uh, seventeen, un."

Ah yes. Sasori knew it. He was partners with an overactive, immature, naïve, bratty teenager. Well that explained things. Maybe whacking the kid over the head a few more times would prove beneficial…

"Um, Sasori no danna? Hello? Why the question, un?"

Only seventeen though? Sasori was sure he was older…even if only by a few years.

"Danna?"

The kid was really a kid. Still under eighteen and would be that way for a while. Unless…

"When did you turn seventeen?"

"What? A couple months ago. Why are you so interested in my age all of a sudden, un?"

So he wouldn't be a legal adult for a while yet. Even when the brat did turn eighteen Sasori would hardly consider him an adult. He would still be an immature teenager after all unless there was a magical switch that made people behave when the turned eighteen. Sadly, Sasori knew somehow that such a thing did not exist.

"_Danna!_"

"Shut up brat. You're being annoying."

Honestly, couldn't the kid see that he was trying to _think_ here?

Deidara quickened his pace.

"Why the questions, un?" He asked again.

Sasori forgot to add something to that teenager list. Stubbornness.

"No reason. I wanted to know."

Deidara looked at him, genuinely confused. Sasori smirked.

"You really are just an immature brat."

"Hey! That's not nice danna! And how old are you, huh?"

"Twice your age minus two, if you can do the math."

"Hah! So you're just a cranky old man, un! Hahah!"

Smirk vanished as a frown took its place. It wasn't funny! And he wasn't old, was he?

"Shut up brat."

Deidara only laughed harder.

"And you think I'm stubborn, un!"

"Do you want to die Deidara?"

Deidara calmed down a bit.

"Oh relax danna, you wouldn't kill me, un!"

Sasori rolled his eyes.

"Shut up brat."

"Whatever you say danna, un." And Deidara changed the subject.

Sasori only half listened as Deidara talked away about whatever. Probably something art related.

Sasori wondered about his partner now, more than ever. If Deidara was that young then he had to be even younger when he joined. Probably roughly the same Itachi was when he joined. And Deidara never had wanted to join Akatsuki…no, but he was rogue, right? What rogue ninja wouldn't want to join Akatsuki? With all the benefits it had…but Deidara hadn't known about Akatsuki, right? Sasori couldn't remember. Well, even if he didn't know why wouldn't he want to join a group? If only to have some more protection from ANBU and whatnot. _Did_ he have a family or something? He would have to ask…

"Deidara?"

The blonde had finished whatever he had been talking about and was momentarily lost in thought.

"Hm?"

_But now's not really the time to have a conversation like that…_

"Never mind."

"What? What is it, un?"

_Stupid curious kid. _

"It's nothing."

"What's nothing, un?"

"Deidara."

"Fine, un."

_I'll ask him later…_

"Sasori danna?"

"What?"

"How much farther do we have to go, un?"

"We'll be there by sometime tomorrow hopefully."

"Oh"

_As long as nothing else happens._

* * *

Much to Sasori's dismay, something else did happen.

The two Akatsuki had been travelling for some time when Sasori thought he noticed the signs of a nearby village. Deidara confirmed this when he flew up on his so-called "art" and used his scope to find that they were only a few miles away from their destination. Sometimes it was useful to have blonde brats who could see far distances.

Then again, Deidara had been talking nonstop about the mission, their destination, or whatever ever since he spotted the place. Sasori sometimes wished there was a way to seal the brat's mouth up for good. Maybe he could poison the kid, just a little bit. Enough to make him shut up. But if he did that then he'd also have to deal with an incompetent partner.

Sasori shook his head. He'd figure something out someday. Too bad he didn't have Hiroku to threaten the blonde with as it was still in pieces, mostly, since Sasori hadn't been able to fix it completely. The blonde seemed quieter when he had Hiroku. Sasori liked to think it was because it made him more menacing. He had the feeling it was something else. Still, if it meant the blonde would shut up for a second he wasn't complaining.

"Danna?"

"What?"

"How long is this gonna take, un?"

"As long as leader-sama wants."

"What _does_ leader-sama want, un?"

_Like he tells me. _

"I don't know brat. Why don't you go ask him yourself?" Sasori answered sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.

"Ha, yeah right. He wouldn't listen to me, un."

"I think you just answered your own question."

"Huh? But he'd tell you. And anyways, you got there first, didn't he say anything else to you, un?"

"Leader-sama doesn't tell anyone anything he doesn't want them knowing. And no brat. He didn't."

"Why didn't you ask then, un?"

"Because _I'm_ not an annoying brat."

"Tch, you're just scared of leader-sama, un!"

"Shut up brat." Sasori growled in a warning tone.

"Haha! I'm right, aren't I Sasori danna?"

_Don't push your luck kid. _

"I said shut up brat! You know it's not good to bother leader-sama too much."

"I _am_ right! But don't worry, I won't tell anybody, un." Deidara teased.

Sasori really wanted to throttle his blonde partner.

"No brat, I never said that! Now shut up before I make you!"

"Eheh, whatever you say danna. By the way, we're being followed, un."

_What the-? How did he figure that out before me? Stupid brat! Why didn't he say something sooner? And we've somehow gotten into a valley…not the ideal place to fight. _

"Idiot! Don't talk so loud! Why didn't you say anything?"

"I just did. And besides, they just started following, un."

_Damnit…we're so close! But we can't go with them following us. We're going to have to lose them somehow. _

Sasori could sense three chakra presences. But that didn't mean there weren't anymore.

"How many do you count?"

"Only three. But I'm pretty sure there was another one a minute ago, un."

"Damnit…they're all _at least_ ANBU level."

"Yeah, but there's not that many, un."

"Don't be so full of yourself brat. There could be more hiding. And they could be stronger than we think."

"Eh, but we can't assume anything yet danna. They could be really easy too, un!"

Sasori sighed. Trying to get Deidara to plan for a battle beforehand was like trying to gather water with a sieve. It just went right through him. Deidara and future plan were simply not compatible. But that didn't mean Sasori couldn't think of something. He just wished his partner would stop and think sometime. Though, he did have to give the kid credit for being able to come up with something in a tight situation. Maybe the blonde thought better under pressure. Sasori would have to try that next time he wanted his partner to do something.

"Alright, listen up brat because I'm only saying this once. We have to-"

"Uh, Sasori-danna? Hate to interrupt but-"

"Brat! Don't talk while I'm talking! Anyways-oh shit."

Deidara rolled his eyes.

"I tried to tell you, un."

"Shut up."

The other ninja were practically right on top of the two shinobi. They were going to have to fight where they were and there would be no time for any complex planning.

Sasori cast a sideward glance toward his partner who had taken up a fighting stance and was preparing some of his clay. His eyes fell on Deidara's injured arm and he wondered for a brief moment if the blonde was going to be able to really fight well. He could do something but he wouldn't be able to weave many hand signs with his arm like that. If he needed to use a higher level technique there would be problems.

"What, un?"

Deidara noticed Sasori's subtle stare. Sasori snapped his focus back to the ninja he knew were coming.

"Nothing. Get ready."

Deidara would be fine. He could handle himself. But maybe Sasori would keep half an eye on him, just to make sure the blonde wouldn't cause them to loose time or something. He pulled out some puppet scrolls.

Sasori and Deidara stood back to back as the enemy ninja slowly began to surround them. There _were_ more than just three or four. In fact, it felt like there was at least seven, but Sasori was sure there was at least a couple more hiding somewhere. Sasori waited. The ninja came closer. As if a timer had gone off, both Akatsuki suddenly shot forward and unleashed their attacks on their opponents. The other ninja were caught by the two Akatsuki's sudden movement and synchronicity. Sasori smirked. This gave them the upper hand.

The ninja they fought, Sasori wasn't sure who they were or even who they worked for. They weren't ANBU but they were just as strong if not stronger. Sasori suddenly remembered the ninja that had chased them earlier and then what he had heard at the place that woman, Naoko, had taken them to. He wondered if they were from the same group but he couldn't be certain. He was too busy taking care of his lot of ninja to either check or care.

The battle wore on. Sasori had to admit, the blonde could really fight well, not that he would ever say that. But, it was true; Deidara's movements were in perfect harmony with his own. It was as if the two could read each other's minds. But Sasori knew it was because they were both highly trained shinobi and both knew just about everything about the other's fighting style. On top of that, Deidara seemed to be doing just fine, fighting with a handicap. Of course Sasori knew this but somehow having the fact confirmed by evidence gave him a strange sense of relief.

"Only a few more left, un."

Deidara and Sasori found themselves once more back to back. Most of the other ninja had either run off or were killed or dying.

"Don't get too confident. They still outnumber us."

Sasori used one of his puppets to sweep out a line of ninja. Deidara followed by sending some explosives after the ones that managed to get past Sasori.

"Eh, relax danna; we're almost done! On your right, un."

Sasori turned in time to block some attacks sent his way then flung one of his puppets out towards his enemies.

"Whatever brat. Behind you."

Deidara turned and sent a volley of explosives towards the other ninja. One of the ninja suddenly performed some quick hand signs and many loud _snaps_ were heard as a thick gray cloud settled over the area.

Silence.

Not a sound was heard. Sasori couldn't see his partner and wanted to alert Deidara of his position, but that would also give it away to the enemy. Of course, the enemy probably could sense him anyways, this was their jutsu, but Sasori suddenly couldn't sense them. Had they just vanished?

Clapping was heard as the dust began settling.

"My, my, that _was_ an _excellent_ display! So you two really are Akatsuki material."

A voice spoke and the area cleared. Sasori saw his partner, ready for any attack and trying to figure out where the voice had come from. Sasori himself began looking around, watching for any signs of the shinobi who had just spoken.

"Well, I learned something. But I do believe I have a problem on my hands. Don't I, _Deidara_?"

There was something gleeful yet angry and threatening all at the same time in the stranger's tone. Sasori didn't like it. And how did this person know his partner? Sasori had the sneaking suspicion that _this _was the ninja who Deidara had encountered earlier. He disliked this person already.

"I wouldn't know what you're talking about, un." Deidara answered, signs of irritation in his voice.

"Hm, a bit slow on the uptake are we? But of course I'm sure _you_ know that, Sasori."

Sasori was momentarily shocked. Then angry. Who was this guy anyways?

"What do you want?" He growled.

"Testy today, aren't we? But I wouldn't blame you. If I had to babysit an immature _child_ I might be a little off myself." The ninja laughed sardonically.

"HEY!" Deidara shouted and tossed an explosive in what he probably thought was the direction the ninja came from. It resulted in nothing more than knocking some snow loose from one of the surrounding trees. Sasori clenched his teeth.

"What do you want? Or did you just come to insult us?" He hissed.

"Oh come now Sasori, you know it's true. Don't have to act for me." The shinobi stated lightly. "Well, anyways, my problem has to deal with the fact that _someone_ made something difficult for me. Now, Deidara, do you remember what I told you _not_ to do? And you did it anyway."

Here the speaker made a clicking noise.

"Such defiance. And I thought we had an understanding. But what do you expect from a naïve kid? Don't you agree, Sasori?"

Deidara hissed but said nothing. Sasori himself was none too happy either. What was this ninja trying to do anyways? Turn them on each other? He was going to have to try a lot harder than that if he wanted results.

"Come now, Sasori."

The voice was suddenly right behind him though he could neither sense nor see anyone there.

"We both know you don't want to have to deal with this _brat_ twenty-four seven. Why should you care about him anyways? What has he ever done to _deserve_ it? He got himself lost, sick, injured, forced _you_ to take _weeks_ out of your time just to find him, and not to mention he took valuable time away from the mission. What help has he been? He killed a few ANBU? Nothing you couldn't have done on your own. Has he actually been anything _but_ annoying? Hell, you could probably do this mission all on your own. This _child_ only slows you down. Think about it. I have a proposition for you but only you. You'd have to leave your, _partner_, to me."

Sasori wanted to say something but was at a loss for words. In a way, the ninja was all right but in a way he was all wrong. These were all the things Sasori _himself_ had thought about his young partner, but to hear someone else echo his opinion; he wasn't sure how to react.

Sasori glanced over at Deidara. From the way it looked, the blonde hadn't heard a word the shinboi said to Sasori. The voice spoke again, this time away from Sasori.

"Well Deidara, it would seem as if your partner agrees with me. Isn't that right Sasori?"

Sasori still didn't know what to say. Part of him wanted to agree but the other part wanted to firmly deny it.

"Shut up coward! Danna would never agree with you! Right danna, un?"

Sasori still said nothing. How could he? Deidara was annoying, right? He couldn't deny that. But he didn't want to agree either. Instead he kept an impassive face and said nothing.

The other ninja laughed evilly.

"See? He agrees with me. But I still have to deal with you. Acts of insolence cannot go unpunished."

Before either Akatsuki knew what had happened, Deidara was slammed into one of the trees, a figure holding the blonde against it. Sasori tried to make out what the ninja looked like, but he was heavily cloaked and his face was completely shielded from view.

"Now, what shall I do? What do you think, Sasori? Hm? Don't think I'm doing this just for me you know."

Sasori simply stared. Something told him he should attack the shinobi that was holding his partner hostage but he didn't move. He only stood and watched.

"You lie! Sasori-danna doesn't agree with you! Tell him Sasori no danna!"

Deidara struggled to get free but the shinobi had an iron grip around the blonde's injured arm with one hand and his other kept the blonde pinned to the tree.

_He must be pretty strong to keep Deidara there just like that. _

"It doesn't seem like your partner's listening to you. You're alone in this one, Deidara."

Sasori could hear the smirk.

"Shut up! He's listening! Right danna, un?"

Sasori was still mulling thoughts over. He wanted to go and help his partner but at the same time the shinobi's words were beginning to get to him.

_Stop thinking of him. What about Deidara?_

"I don't think so. He agrees with me. Stop fooling yourself you little idiot. And he's going to come with me after this. Yes, you're just an annoying brat to him. Am I right Sasori?"

"Sh-shut up! You, you damned bastard!" Deidara swiftly kicked the ninja square in the gut then made a break but was quickly slammed back into the tree with more force than the last time.

"I think," The man began slowly. "That you're the one who needs to shut up. Don't try and deny it Deidara. If your partner didn't agree with me, then why is he still there? Why hasn't he come to help you already? Think about it…"

Sasori didn't like how this ninja was talking.

"Danna?"

Like he wasn't there.

"Danna please…"

Like he didn't care…

"Danna, un!"

"Shut up idiot."

Sasori saw the man's hand suddenly wrap up around Deidara's neck and lift him off the ground. It wasn't that much of a feat; the man was probably half a foot taller than the blonde at least. Deidara struggled and sent Sasori a look the he could only interpret as desperation.

_What about Deidara?_

The thought played over in his mind as he mulled over what the ninja said.

_What about Deidara?_

Ice blue stared at him…pleading with him…

_What about Deidara?_

But he didn't move. He didn't change his expression. He stood there as if he was a statue.

Just as Sasori was sure the blonde was going to pass out from lack of oxygen, the ninja put him down and released his hold on Deidara's throat and his arm. Deidara sank down, panting with his back to the tree. Sasori was about to take a step forward but just then the shinobi suddenly picked the blonde up again, holding him against the tree tightly making it again difficult for the blonde to breathe.

"What? Nothing to say now?" The ninja mocked. "What do you think Sasori? Should I leave him alone yet?"

_YES!_

Sasori stood, emotionless as ever.

Deidara suddenly kicked his captor again, stronger than before, sending the ninja reeling. The blonde staggered forward, still gasping for air, but managed to make a few explosives and toss them towards the shinobi who easily dodged. The shinobi once again pushed Deidara back into the tree but this time let him fall. He turned to Sasori.

"Think about it." With that he was gone.

As soon as the ninja left something seemed to flip inside Sasori. He _ran_ towards his partner who was getting up, leaning against the tree for support, still panting.

"Deidara, wait a minute, sit down. Try and regulate your breathing first."

Deidara just eyed him angrily.

"Why…why didn't you…wha…wha…wh...w…."

"Calm down Deidara! You're hyperventilating!"

"Why…didn't you…an….an…answer? Wh…Why…"

Deidara's breathing sped up. Sasori grabbed at his wrist to try and feel the blonde's pulse but Deidara snatched his arm away and glared.

"I'm…sorry, Deidara. Let me check your pulse now. Come on. And try and take deep breaths. You're going to pass out."

"W…wh…w…_why_?"

"Deidara! Stop this now! I'm trying to help you!"

"Why…didn't you…h…he….h…help…earli…earlier…?"

"Damnit Deidara! What is _wrong_ with you? Stop this insolence you brat!"

The words were out before he even thought.

Deidara glared at him coldly, still breathing in short rasps.

"S…so…you…you do….a…ag…agree…with him…why-"

Deidara began choking for air. Sasori forced his partner into a sitting position.

"Breathe!" He commanded.

Shakily, Deidara began taking in air again, his breathing eventually calming down to a normal rate. As soon as his breathing was under control, the blonde got up, and glared at Sasori.

"Deidara…"

"Shut up"

Sasori closed his mouth and glared back. If Deidara wasn't going to listen then fine. He didn't care.

The blonde gave him one last glare before turning and stalking off.

"Where are you going?"

"To finish the damn mission. _With or without _ you, _danna_, un."

Sasori muttered under his breath and followed after the blonde.

_Deidara…I'm sorry…_

* * *

_Why?_

One thought echoed back.

_Why did he do it?_

In his whole life, Sasori was one of very few people Deidara had ever trusted. It was probably safe to say that Sasori was the only _living_ person left who he still did trust.

_Why?_

But that had been a mistake. Sasori didn't care. He had simply stood by and done _nothing_ while that bastard had him.

_Why? Doesn't he even care about me as a partner?_

Sure, Deidara had gotten himself into the mess. Was that why? Did Sasori think he was weak? Was he weak? He kept getting into trouble; it must be. But didn't Sasori see any value in him? At all? Even just as a tool for Akatsuki? Anything that would make him worth the trouble of helping.

_Why?_

Deidara's shoulders sagged a bit. He walked behind Sasori now as the puppet master lead the way to their destination.

_Why danna? Why?_

* * *

**A/N: And there you go! Deidara keeps getting himself into trouble...silly Deidara. And Sasori is being Sasori. Yeah, that creepo is a pain in the ass. Yeah, he pretty much did what he wanted; put Deidara and Sasori at odds. Sasori fell for it though. And yeah, Creepo is still going to be a mystery until next chapter at least...I might make it even longer...maybe...**

**Anyone guess who the other ninja were who attacked them? Yes, they work for Creepo if people are wondering. **

**Anyways, hope you all enjoyed! And really, thank you to everyone who supports this fic, especially the reviewers! There was a point where I almost gave up on this chapter, and the whole fic, entirely. But I went back and read all the reviews all over again and it made me want to write more. So, THANK YOU! Please keep leaving those wonderful reviews! They really make my day :3**


	9. Trust

**A/N: Chapter nine is here! Next time I'll post I'll have ten chapters...can't wait o-o. **

**Well, I hope this chapter is good! I was really trying hard to keep them in character while displaying their different feelings. Hope it didn't get too messed up...**

**Sasori - Alright, we're just going to assume with him that he can do everything normal people can but has like, some invincibility or something. Since I really don't feel like explaining why he can like, feel physically or use bodily functions. Actually, I'm just too lazy to think something up. So, yeah. We're assuming he's a normal person except that he's got like, super puppet powers or something. _ **

**Also, I have decided to deviate from the anime/manga. Like, a lot. As far as story goes anyways. There are just some things I don't really feel like staying canon on because they get in the way of the fic. So I guess this is AU then? Idk...I hope it's not ruined because of it. **

**Anyways, enough talking! Enjoy the chapter!**

**I don't own the Naruto characters in this fic. **

* * *

_**Mission Impossible**_

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Trust**

* * *

Neither Akatsuki said a word to the other on their way into the small village. Deidara kept behind Sasori a bit, not so far that he was lagging behind but just enough to stay away. He wasn't sure what to do about it really. Did it even matter? Didn't he always know that Sasori cared little for him? Why was this so surprising?

_But I never thought he'd just leave me alone like that…_

Sasori must have thought he was just useless. Just a brat to schlep around. Annoying and weak, that's what he was.

"_You're just an annoying brat to him. Am I right Sasori?"_

And silence was the only answer. Sure, Deidara knew Sasori thought that but the fact that he didn't deny it when some crazy ninja asked…he just didn't know anymore.

Soon enough the two came to a small inn where Sasori got them a room. They still said nothing to each other as they went up and unpacked their belongings.

"So, we need to collect information." Sasori started, voice straining.

"I'm taking the east side, un." Deidara stated. The tone in his voice conveying the missing words: _Whether you like it or not. And don't you dare try to follow me._

"Fine, I'll take west." _Have it your way brat. _

Without any more words, Deidara stalked out of the room to start on the mission. He heard Sasori following behind and turned to glare at the puppet master. Sasori in turn only raised an eyebrow and brushed past the blonde on his way out. Deidara mumbled something under his breath and followed Sasori out.

As they passed Sasori gave him a look that said, well, Deidara didn't know what really. And he pretended not to care.

"I'm not coming back until late, un."

He didn't know why he said it. But he always told Sasori where he was going. Old habits were hard to break sometimes.

"Fine."

Deidara quickly walked off. He needed to get his mind off Sasori. So he started. He knew he was supposed to be gathering information, but information on what exactly? He wasn't sure. The village probably. He was just going to make note of everything he could. And though it was a small village, it might end up taking him a few days. There were a lot of things to investigate for such a small place.

Somehow, Deidara found himself outside a little shop, watching customers walk in and out and half listening to some conversations floating around. Mostly boring stuff that normal people talked about. For a minute, Deidara wondered what it would be like to be normal. It was probably nothing like being in Akatsuki, that much was for sure.

"Oh, hey, I found you!" Deidara looked around for the person who just addressed him to see.

"Tobi, un?"

_Now what on earth…isn't he that guy who follows Zetsu around? Does that mean Zetsu's in this place somewhere? Does leader-sama want something? What's going on?_

"Ah, Deidara-san, I found you! But where's Sasori-san?"

"We split up, un." Deidara snapped.

"Is something wrong Deidara-san? You don't seem too happy."

"No Tobi, I am not happy. Leave me alone, un."

_He's rather annoying. Is he like, Zetsu's partner? But he's not in Akatsuki…_

"Eh? But I have something important to tell you!" Tobi stated in a singsong voice.

Deidara rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, looking away from Tobi.

"I'm busy, un."

"It involves the mission Deidara-san."

"Well go tell Sasori-danna then! He's the one who keeps track of all that stuff anyways. Now just leave me alone, un!"

"Ah, but this is only for you to hear. Lucky for me I found just you!"

"…"

"Why are you mad at Sasori-san?"

"Sh-shut up, un!"

Tobi tilted his head.

"Did he do something to you?"

"I said shut up Tobi, un!"

"Or was it something you did?"

"Tobi…" Deidara said with a low growl.

"Eheh, don't take everything so _seriously_ Deidara-san! Look, I _really_ have to tell you something! It's from leader-sama! You don't want to make him mad, do you?"

Deidara shook his head.

"Didn't think so! Come on!"

Tobi began walking off somewhere and reluctantly, Deidara followed. Vaguely he wondered why Tobi only needed to talk to _him _and also why Pein hadn't sent Zetsu to him instead of Tobi. Tobi wasn't in Akatsuki…it didn't make sense. Something wasn't adding up but Deidara just couldn't figure out what it was.

Nor did he really care. He didn't exactly fell like talking to Sasori or anything and he didn't really want to question Tobi since he probably wouldn't get a straight answer. He supposed that Zetsu could have been out doing something else and Pein figured since Tobi always hung around Akatsuki that he could deliver a simple message. Still, it was unusual for only one member of an Akatsuki team to know something. And it was even more unusual that Tobi was telling _Deidara_ since Sasori was always the one getting the mission information from Pein.

"Come on Deidara-san!"

Tobi waved Deidara into a tea shop of sorts. There were few lights inside resulting in the place being very dark. Deidara couldn't see most of the other people's faces and he wasn't sure he liked it. Not that there were many others in there, just the fact that there could be people lurking in the dark put him on guard.

"Sit down!"

Deidara slid into one of the chairs at a small table.

_Where does he get all this energy?_

Tobi sat down across from him.

"Well, un?" Deidara asked.

"First things first, Deidara-san. Where is Sasori-san?"

"On the other end of town, un." Deidara replied shortly. He didn't really want to talk about Sasori.

Tobi nodded his head.

"Oh, okay then! You're not supposed to be with him?"

"No"

"Ah, does he know where you are?"

"Why all the questions, un?" Deidara asked irritably. He wasn't in the mood for this.

"Eh, just answer the question Deidara-san, then we can move on!"

Something told Deidara this was all rather suspicious, but he didn't care. As long as Tobi stopped questioning him after this then nothing else mattered.

"Yes"

"I see…"

Tobi tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"What did you drag me here for, un?"

"Don't be so impatient Deidara-san! We're waiting for someone."

Deidara raised an eyebrow, though he wasn't sure if Tobi could actually see it in the dim light.

"Who would that be, un?"

"Oh, here she is!"

_She?_

Deidara turned to see a lightly cloaked woman come into the shop. She noticed Tobi waving her over and came and sat at the table next to Tobi, across from Deidara.

"Naoko-san?!"

Deidara didn't try to hide his surprise. What was _she _doing there? Of all people…weren't they far away from where she lived?

"Hello, Deidara-kun." The woman greeted with a smile.

Still slightly shocked, Deidara turned to Tobi.

"Tobi, what's going on, un?"

_Didn't Sasori-danna say she was an enemy?_

"It has to do with the mission." Tobi stated calmly.

_But danna's not here. Besides, he was probably wrong anyways. _

Deidara nodded, waiting for Tobi to go on.

"Leader-sama doesn't want you to get information from this village anymore. Instead he needs you to perform some espionage at the village leader's mansion. He wants some scrolls that are hidden in a secret chamber underneath the house."

"Hm. What do they look like, un?"

"Oh, you'll know them when you see them! They're the only scrolls in the room."

"How does he expect me to find this passage? Does he have a plan of the house to give me, un?"

"Ah, you'll have to figure that out on your own. But that's actually why Naoko-san is here!"

Suddenly, Deidara remembered something. He turned to Naoko.

"Wait, weren't you enemies with Akatsuki? Do you work for them now or something, un?"

Naoko smirked slightly.

"Sort of."

Something about the way she said it was wrong. Deidara pushed it aside.

"Well Deidara-san?"

"Sure I guess. Shouldn't take too long, right, un?"

"Tobi, you left something out." Naoko said softly.

"Ah! That's right! How could I forget!"

Deidara rolled his eyes.

"You also need to kill the village leader."

Deidara's eyes widened slightly. An assassination.

"I'm…not really good at that kind of thing…un…" He said quickly.

Deidara hated assassinations which was why he never did them. He could kill people. But only ninja and only when he was fighting them. To kill someone in cold blood…it seemed wrong to him. He found it almost funny; he was an S-class criminal after all. Still, he shuddered at the thought.

"But you can still do it Deidara-san!"

To deny someone of their life, no matter who they were, without giving them a fair fight not only seemed like a cowardly thing to do but also dishonorable. Being a missing nin and working for Akatsuki he knew he shouldn't let those kinds of things bother him. But there it was. He remembered the only other time he had been forced to complete an assassination mission. A shiver ran down his spine as scenes from that mission suddenly flashed in front of him.

He swallowed thickly.

"What about Sasori-danna, un?"

He didn't know why he asked. Maybe as an attempt to get out of the mission.

"Leader-sama said he wanted _you _to do it."

"Um…well…um…shouldn't I…I mean, shouldn't he know where I'm going at least, un?"

Not like he really wanted to tell Sasori. But then again, he was getting a strange feeling from the two ninja sitting across from him.

"It will be quick, Deidara-kun. He doesn't need to know." Naoko said.

Deidara unconsciously bit his lower lip. He was about to decline and just leave. There was something flaky about the whole situation and he didn't feel like messing around with it. But just as he opened his mouth to say something he remembered what happened earlier in the day.

"_You're alone in this one…Why hasn't he come to help you already? Think about it."_

He set his face. He wasn't weak. He'd prove it to Sasori. He could do this. By himself.

"Alright…" He agreed with a hint of uncertainty.

"Great!" Tobi stated jovially.

Naoko got up.

"Let's go."

She gestured to Deidara who got up as well and followed her out of the shop. He wasn't sure, but he swore he saw something of a smirk on her face.

As he left he heard Tobi call out, "Just watch yourself, Deidara-san!" An unsettling laugh followed.

_What have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

Sasori had watched his blonde partner walk away for a while before he himself turned to start his part of the mission. He was angry, but more at himself than Deidara. Sure the brat didn't listen to him but what _had_ he been thinking back there? Why didn't he help his partner?

"_What help has he been?"_

As much as Sasori hated it, the words of that ninja kept coming back to him. Making him doubt.

"_This __**child**__ only slows you down."_

Deidara really was troublesome. After all, he was the cause of all the misfortune they'd been having. He _would_ have finished the mission much quicker if Deidara hadn't gone and gotten lost.

"_Think about it…"_

Suddenly, Sasori stopped as he sensed another ninja in the vicinity.

_It can't be Deidara…_

He pulled out a poison coated kunai and walked towards the direction the presence was coming from.

"Well, Sasori, that sure is a _nice_ way to greet your messenger."

Sasori lowered his weapon.

"What does leader-sama want, Zetsu?"

If Zetsu was here then Pein wanted something. That's just how it went.

"Always cutting straight to the point. **Where's your partner?**"

Sasori huffed out a breath.

"He's searching the other side of the village. We decided to split up. Now what did you come here to tell me?"

"Leader-sama just wanted to know how the mission was getting along. **It's been a long time since we heard anything. **Did you accomplish anything yet?"

"We just got here."

"Why would that be? **It's so unlike you Sasori to be late or take a long time doing things.**"

"We were separated in a snowstorm."

"Separated? **For how long?**"

"Deidara got lost for a while. It took about a couple a weeks."

"Oh, so you were a little sidetracked is all. **That idiot would lose his head if it wasn't attached.**"

"Is that all?"

"Actually, we do have something else for you. **If you can handle it.**"

Sasori rolled his eyes.

"What?"

Suddenly, Sasori felt another ninja in the vicinity. He watched Zetsu fade back into the shadows.

"Well, Sasori, have you thought about it?"

Sasori spun around.

"What the hell do you want?"

It was him. That ninja from before. The one who had caused this mess. Features hidden by an oversized cloak and the shadows of the alleyway he was in.

"Oh come now. I was only asking a simple question. And if you want to start doing your job right I suggest you highly consider watching what you say to me."

Sasori raised an eyebrow. Zetsu was still there. Slowly, he pieced it together.

"You work for Akatsuki?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"You could say that."

If Sasori could see the ninja he knew a smirk would be plastered on his face right about now. Sasori glanced over at Zetsu.

"What does leader-sama want?"

"Oh, listen to him he'll tell you!" The white half responded. Zetsu then sank into the ground, disappearing from sight.

Sasori turned his focus back to the other ninja. He wasn't so sure about all this.

"Well, I asked you a question. Have you thought about it?" The ninja prodded.

"I have."

It was all he was thinking about lately.

"Well?"

Sasori stared impassively at the other. The truth was, he didn't know. He didn't know how to respond to that.

"Remember, Sasori, remember what I said. You could do so much more without having to drag around a kid who can't take care of himself. Now that you know who I work for you should be considering my offer as an option."

One question plagued his mind.

"If you have something for me then what do you have for Deidara?"

The shinobi laughed sardonically.

"Oh Sasori, don't tell me you actually _care_ about what happens to that brat. But I suppose you have a right to know…to an extent. The long and the short of it is we simply don't need the kid. I think you yourself would agree that he only gets in the way of things more often than not."

What did he mean by _we_? Did he mean Akatsuki? Akatsuki didn't need one of their members? This was a shock. Sure Deidara was annoying but Akatsuki needed every last one of their members to complete missions. They weren't a very large organization.

"Akatsuki's changing its protocols." The shinobi said, as if he read Sasori's mind.

"What are you going to do to him?" Sasori deadpanned.

"_Concerned_ are we?" The ninja asked in an amused tone.

Sasori remained impassive.

"Well, we can't have people running around with all our secrets, now can we? What do you _think_ is going to happen? Ah, but not right away. We can still use him for a little bit. But I'll take care of that part. Think of it this way Sasori, accept my proposal and you never have to deal with that _child_ ever again."

"What is your proposal?"

"I can't get into specifics here. But I will tell you that involves more than gathering _intel_. Really, that's a job for scout ninja. You're an S-class shinobi; you should be doing better things than this. And you would if you accept."

"Leader-sama would not have sent us if the mission didn't involve something that was beyond a jounin's abilities."

"Has the thought ever crossed your mind that he sent you on this mission simply because your partner can't handle higher caliber work? He assigns missions based off the whole team's capabilities, not just one ninja. Certainly, _you_ can handle things harder than this but do you think the brat would survive a minute of hardcore work? Sasori, your abilities would be used for far greater things than picking off ANBU and random other ninja that cross your path. You wouldn't be stuck with a kid who doesn't know what he's doing half the time. Think about it."

Sasori was at a loss for words. Yes, he would like to stop all these stupid menial missions, if that were at all possible. Akatsuki really hadn't been giving him as much of a challenge as he would have liked. Even this mission was fairly simple. If only Deidara hadn't gotten himself lost then they might have the whole thing finished by now.

Why not? Deidara didn't want to talk to him now anyways. And he wouldn't mind some peace and quiet for a change.

Sasori lifted his head to answer when a thought crossed his mind.

_Deidara wouldn't be in Akatsuki anymore._

No, he knew what the ninja in front of him was implying. They'd kill the blonde so he wouldn't spill any of their secrets. Sasori knew why. It wasn't like they could just let him go. He knew far too much. As much as his young partner annoyed him he wasn't sure he wanted to do _that_ though he had threatened Deidara before. Now that it came down to it, he wasn't so sure he wanted it to happen.

"This is your chance, Sasori. What does it matter about the kid? Are you tied to him? He's just your partner. And not a very good one at that."

The shinobi was right. Deidara was nothing more than his partner. And he was annoying. Should Sasori let the brat come between him and his goals? Of course not.

"What do I have to do?"

If Sasori could see the shinobi he knew the man would be smirking evilly. Something in the air changed; he could just feel it. He wasn't so sure anymore.

"That's what I thought. You accept then?"

Sasori opened his mouth but shut it again. The memory of his young partner's ice blue eyes staring into his, pleading with him, flashed through his mind.

The ninja huffed, obviously not happy with the delay.

"He's just an annoying brat. Nothing more. He's incompetent. You know this Sasori."

"No"

"_What?!_"

Sasori's expression did not change.

"No," He stated calmly. "He's not incompetent. Annoying, yes, at times, but if Akatsuki no longer has use of him then they are missing out on an excellent shinobi. I do not accept."

"Watch what you say. Denying me means denying Akatsuki. I'm giving you the chance of a lifetime. Don't throw it away because you _care_ about what happens to an ignorant blonde _child_." The ninja sneered.

"No."

"You know Akatsuki will hunt you down too. It's a shame, but we'll kill you both if we have to."

"Yes."

"Have it your way then, Sasori. Waste your life. I hope you're happy."

The ninja turned to leave.

"Oh, and by the way, since you seem so _fond_ of that kid, you might want to go and find him soon. You know how he gets into trouble and, well…" Sasori swore he saw the flash of a sadistic looking smirk from the shinobi. "This time he might not be so lucky."

Sasori watched as the ninja vanished in front of him. What had just happened, he really couldn't say. All he knew was that somehow, both he and Deidara had been rejected by Akatsuki. Somehow, something happened and they were no longer needed. Or Deidara wasn't and his refusal to leave without his partner had gotten him kicked out as well. Sasori knew this was bad. Being a rogue was hard enough; always being chased by ANBU and the like. But to have a criminal organization on your tail as well? Oh, Deidara owed him big time for this one.

Suddenly, Sasori remembered what the shinobi had said about his partner shortly before disappearing. What was he alluding to? It couldn't have been good. Without another thought, Sasori dashed off towards the other side of the village. He had to find Deidara first. The blonde didn't know what had happened; he wouldn't expect anything.

Sasori combed the east side of the village. He searched everywhere, but he didn't find the blonde.

_Where could he have gone off too? Did he go back to the inn already? It hasn't been so long though…he said he'd be back later. But he's not here…so then, where?_

Sasori searched some more but after five hours of not finding anything, he gave up. He had even gone back to the inn and over to side he was supposed to be searching, just in case Deidara had decided to go there for whatever reason. Still, he had found no trace of the kid.

He frowned as he remembered all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. Even if he did find Deidara, would the blonde listen to him? The kid had been pretty upset though Sasori didn't blame him. He cursed Akatsuki. This was all their fault. He remembered his cloak and ring. In disgust, he threw them both off. Looking at the cloak again, he remembered the type of climate he was in and picked the article back up, folding it. He wouldn't wear it, but it might be useful later.

Getting up from where he was sitting, Sasori sighed. He needed to find Deidara before much more time passed. But where to look? He had been through the whole village and had found nothing. He had even asked some people if they had seen a blonde shinobi around but they all only shook their heads as they apologized. He saw a tea shop across from where he was standing and decided to go in. At least he could sit down and think.

He entered the shop, it was rather dark but Sasori's eyes adjusted in a moment. He ordered some tea from the woman behind the counter and then sat down. What to do?

"Well, you're a ninja, right? Fourth one we've had today. Is there something going on?"

Sasori perked up a bit.

_Fourth ninja, huh?_

"Not that I know of." He answered passively.

"Eh, really? Oh well, we just generally don't get more than one of you people here a week never mind four in a day!"

"Do you mind telling me what the other three who came in looked like?"

"Why? Were you supposed to be travelling with them or something?" She asked suspiciously.

"I think so. If they are who I think they are."

"I don't like messing in ninja business."

"You won't get in any trouble."

"Ah well, what's the harm? One, I couldn't tell. But I knew she was a woman. Sounded like one but was cloaked so I couldn't see her features. Then there was this orange masked ninja. He seemed to be leading the whole thing. Rather annoying voice I must say. Oh and then the blonde one. Seemed younger than the other two, he did. The woman and the masked one were talking with him, sounded like they had some business or something. I didn't hear too much."

"Do you know where they were going?"

"The lady left with the blonde first. Something about going to the village leader's place or something. I don't know. I really didn't hear too much, they talked so quietly. Then the masked guy just kinda up and left. Don't know if he was going to follow them or what."

"Ah, thank you."

Sasori paid his bill and left. As soon as he had heard the woman talking about an orange masked ninja, he knew something was up. That was Tobi, that pest who followed Zetsu around. What he would be doing there, Sasori had no idea. But he was talking to Deidara who then left with some _woman_ to the village leader's place according to the tea shop lady.

Night was falling, so Sasori hurried to find this place. After asking around a bit he learned that the man's house was actually placed outside the village. Sasori found this rather peculiar but he didn't have time to question such matters. Once he knew where he needed to go, he left as fast as he could towards the place. He had to find Deidara and tell his partner what was going on.

When Sasori finally got there he could see no real movement around the area. There were a few guards placed in areas around the vicinity, but he did not see nor sense his partner around. He walked around the periphery a few times but still found nothing. He would have to go inside.

Just as he was about to do so, he sensed the chakra presence of another ninja and quickly masked his own. A cloaked figure came into view and Sasori pulled out a kunai. The next moment, he was pressing the ninja up against the outer wall of the house, holding the kunai to their neck. His eyes widened slightly as he realized who the person was.

"You! Where's Deidara?" He demanded.

The kunoichi glared at him.

"I have a name you know."

"I didn't come here to hear you talk. Where is he?"

Naoko smirked.

"Already inside."

Sasori growled.

"What is he doing?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just a shame you're not going to be there."

Sasori didn't like the way she was talking. He pressed her against the wall even harder.

"What's going on?"

"You tell me. But if you're here then you must not be in Akatsuki anymore. Which means you know what's going to happen. Too bad you're too late."

_What does she mean, too late?_

Without another word, Sasori threw the kunoichi into a nearby tree and tossed the kunai back as he began looking for a way into the building. He didn't check to see what had happened to her. He had other priorities. Quietly, he made his way past the guards and inside all too easily.

_Find Deidara and get out of here._

Sasori began ransacking the place looking for his partner, careful not to be caught by anyone wandering around. However, after giving a thorough look through, he could not find his partner. He cursed. Where was the kid? He began searching again. He started to pass a room that he deemed non-important when he decided that he might as well give that area a check as well. It never hurt to try.

He went into the room and grumbled when he saw nothing out of the ordinary. But just as he was about to leave, something caught his eye. He turned and saw that a closet door was left open. This didn't necessarily mean anything but on closer inspection the wooden tiling was slightly different inside the closet than it was out. Sasori bent down and thumped the floor a bit. He was not too surprised when it came loose moments later to reveal a staircase descending into darkness.

_Tch. Village leaders and the like are always thinking they can hide important things like this. Don't they see how obvious it all is?_

Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time, he carefully made his way down the stairs. He found he was in a passage that was lit up by a few torches. Finally he found what he was looking for.

There, in a side room, was his partner. What the blonde was doing, Sasori couldn't tell. He had his back to the puppet master and was holding a kunai in his hands, looking it over with a frown visible on his face. Sasori didn't know if the blonde knew he was there. He had his chakra masked slightly but when they were only standing a few feet away…

"What are you doing here, un?"

Cold emotion displayed in the blonde's words. So Deidara had noticed him.

"Deidara, we have to go, _now_."

"Why, un?"

The blonde's voice suddenly changed from cold to emotionless.

"I'll explain it once we leave. But we have to go now."

"I asked why, danna."

Deidara's back was still to Sasori.

"Deidara, I don't have time for this. We have to go, _now_. We're both going to be in trouble if we don't. So stop being so stubborn and come with me!"

Deidara turned to face Sasori. His face looked grim but his visible eye burned with anger. Anger, and a mix of, what? It looked like hurt and sadness.

"Why, danna? Why should I? Why should I listen to you? Tell me, why, un?"

"Deidara, I'm trying to help you!"

"Why? Aren't I just an annoying brat? I know what I'm doing, un."

"No Deidara, you don't know. We need to get out of here, right now. Before-"

"Before what, danna?"

Sasori stared at his partner. The way he spoke, emotionless, cold, and the way he stood there, expressionless save for the emotion burning in his eyes, Sasori had never seen this side of his partner before. So calm, so impassive, so, so _cold_. He didn't like it. No matter how annoying Sasori thought the blonde was, this was nerve wracking. It wasn't normal. This person standing in front of him didn't seem like the Deidara he knew.

"Before Akatsuki comes."

"Why would that matter, un?"

Sasori had enough. They needed to leave and they needed to leave _now_. Deidara could be mad all he wanted but Sasori was going to drag the blonde out if it came to that.

He stalked up to his partner and grabbed the blonde's wrist.

"We're going."

He started to pull the kid with him but Deidara twisted his wrist away.

"Deidara" Sasori started in a warning tone.

Deidara only glared.

"Don't make me force you."

"Try me, un."

That was it.

_*Slap!*_

Deidara's head snapped to the side with the impact of Sasori's blow. He didn't really want to hit the kid but he had enough.

"Quit fooling around Deidara. We have to leave. Now."

Slowly Deidara turned his head back to face Sasori. There was something new in his eyes now. What it was, Sasori couldn't make out, but he suddenly felt very bad for slapping the blonde.

For a moment, Deidara said nothing. Then:

"_Why_, danna, _why_?"

Sasori realized Deidara wasn't talking about leaving. He looked at his partner and where he had seen the emotionless mask of a trained shinobi he now only saw the face like that of a lost child.

Suddenly, sadistic laughter was heard just outside the room. Turning, Sasori once again saw that ninja. The one who kept popping up.

_He sure has timing._

"Ah, look who it is. My two _favorite_ shinobi."

Sasori growled. Next to him he could feel his partner stiffening.

"So, have you told him yet, Sasori?"

"Told me what, un?"

Sasori could hear his partner trying to sound normal. But he knew otherwise.

"That's a no, I take it. Well, Deidara, let's just say that your partner here accepted my offer to work with me."

Sasori could feel the blonde's head turning, his eyes boring into Sasori.

"That's not-"

Sasori began, but before he could finish the other shinobi was suddenly between them. Forcefully, he pushed Sasori away and then moved to stand behind him.

"Oh come on, we know what you want to say Sasori. Sorry Deidara, but that's the way it goes. You, on the other hand, are not needed."

"Sasori-danna, un?" Deidara asked. It was more of a plea.

Sasori his mouth to say something, to deny it, but he found that his entire body couldn't move. He saw the shinobi smirking evilly at him. But Deidara could not realize what was going on.

"Danna!"

"Sorry Deidara. That's life. Sometimes you win. Today, you lose."

Sasori watched as his partner quickly shoved his hand into his clay pouch, made some explosives, and sent them their way. The ninja laughed and moved out of the way. Sasori found he could move his body again and dodged just in time to narrowly miss being hit by one of Deidara's bombs.

"Deidara!"

Deidara ignored him. He made more clay bombs and sent them towards Sasori. Acting on instinct, Sasori whipped out a puppet scroll and quickly used the puppet to block Deidara's attack.

"Deidara, stop this! I'm-"

"Shut up! You don't need me? Fine. But I won't let you get away, un!"

Deidara sent more, higher level explosives Sasori's way. Sasori quickly blocked and dodged. He set his face. He didn't know how he was going to get Deidara to stop. For now, the only thing he could do was make sure his partner didn't blow him to bits.

The two shinobi went through a set of similar exchanges. Deidara always on the offense while Sasori was on the defense. Finally, Deidara sent a blast that completely splintered the puppet Sasori had been using. Instinctively, Sasori pulled out another puppet and, before he knew what he was doing, he used the puppet to send thousands of poisoned senbon towards his partner to counteract the small bombs Deidara was now tossing at him. Five minutes later, senbon and clay covered the floor and the two shinobi glared at each other. All of a sudden, the blonde collapsed. Sasori stared in shock for a moment before realizing what must have happened. He began rushing towards his partner but was stopped by the other shinobi who had been watching the two fight. The man laughed.

"Well, that was quicker than expected."

He threw Sasori back into the wall.

_Damn he's strong. And fast…I didn't even see that coming. _

"Oh well, you know, you can still accept my offer, Sasori. But I'll come back for you later."

The ninja vanished in a puff of smoke.

Sasori stared for a moment before remembering his partner. Scrambling up he dashed towards the blonde whose breathing was now labored. He placed a hand over Deidara's forehead and, sure enough, the kid was burning up. He didn't need to check anymore. He knew what had happened. A senbon must have hit the blonde in their exchange. But was it only one? Sasori needed to know how much of the poison was in the blonde's system.

Sasori began looking for the visible injury which would show where the senbon had hit. But he found none. That is, he found none until he brushed back Deidara's long bangs and saw the four scratch marks across his face that were leaking blood. Four of the senbon had hit. One was enough to be fatal within twenty-four hours on the average sized person. But Deidara was a little smaller than the average person. And there had been more than one senbon. Sasori didn't know how much time that gave him. He couldn't think but he knew it wasn't long.

Guilt tugged at Sasori. If he had only helped his partner in the first place then he wouldn't be here now. And, now he had to think fast. He had a little bit of the antidote with him but only enough for one poisoning. Not four. He hadn't brought anymore with him because he never needed it. He only carried the little bit with him just in case he might have accidentally hit his partner in battle with an enemy. He never expected to be fighting his partner like this.

It wasn't like he could just make some either. He didn't have the ingredients here. He had them, along with more of the antidote, back at the Akatsuki hideout. But they weren't welcome there anymore.

Deidara suddenly gasped in pain and arched his back as the poison coursed its way through his veins. Sasori looked the blonde over again and frowned. Deidara's breathing was very labored and his body was sweating rapidly as the fever consumed him. Quickly, Sasori pulled out the bit of antidote he carried with him and forced the blonde to drink it, making sure he swallowed the whole thing. A few minutes later, Sasori noticed the kid calming down a bit though he still burned with fever and still had some trouble breathing. Yet, at least Sasori had bought some time until he could figure out what to do.

Carefully, Sasori lifted the poisoned kid off the ground and stood up. Deidara moaned a bit as he felt the shift in position and his head lolled against Sasori's chest. First thing to do was to get out of that place. As fast as he could without jarring the blonde too much, Sasori rushed out of the house and back towards the inn they had stopped at earlier. He quickly laid Deidara on the bed and pulled the Akatsuki cloak off. He dashed to the bathroom to get a bowl of ice cold water and then getting out a couple of rags, he wet them and placed one over the blonde's forehead while he used the other to wipe away the sweat that was streaming down the blonde's face and neck.

Deidara moaned again as his entire body shook with pain.

_It's alright Deidara…you're going to be alright._

Deidara's breathing started speeding up.

_You have to be. _

Sasori thought. He had to act fast. He was out of antidote but he could try bleeding the poison out. If he did it right, he could get out most of the toxins and the residue that was left would make the blonde sick, but he wouldn't die. It was risky, but it was all he had.

Without a second thought on the matter, Sasori pulled out a kunai and grabbed the blonde's wrist. Carefully, he made a couple of incisions then began the process. Finally, Sasori thought he got out all that he could and so he cleaned Deidara's wrist off and wrapped it tightly in a clean bandage. He looked the blonde over. Deidara seemed to be breathing a bit easier and when Sasori felt the kid's forehead he noticed the fever had gone down a bit. He sighed in relief. Deidara should be alright now. If he made it through the night he would live. Quietly, Sasori got up and started packing. They were going to have to leave in the morning.

* * *

_Ohhh…what…_

Ice blue eyes snapped open and Deidara suddenly sat bolt upright from the bed. That was a mistake.

"Nnn.."

He hissed as a dull pain spiked through his entire body.

"Easy, Deidara, easy there…"

Deidara's head whipped to the side. Sasori was there.

_What. The. Hell?_

"Wh-What are _you_ – A-ack!"

Another wave of pain wracked his body and he groaned.

"Deidara, go easy. You're going to make yourself worse."

Sasori moved his hand to Deidara's shoulder to push the blonde back down. Deidara pulled away from Sasori't touch and glared. Why _was _he still there? He was going with that, that _ninja_. In fact, last the blonde knew, they were both trying to kill each other. Or something like that. Sasori closed his eyes for a moment.

Deidara just wanted an explanation. He wanted Sasori to tell him _why. _He wanted to know what he did wrong to make the puppet master hate him so much. He wanted to know why Sasori was there now. Why he hadn't left the blonde alone. If this was some cruel joke he wasn't going to allow himself to be played. Sick or not, he _would_ leave. Sasori opened his eyes again.

"Deidara…"

The blonde turned his focus on Sasori, still holding an angry glare.

"I…apologize. There is no excuse for my behavior earlier and I'm sorry. But please, lie down now. I'll explain it more to you; just lie down."

The anger slightly faded from Deidara's face though he still stared warily at his partner. Slowly, he let himself back down on the bed. Sasori let out a breath. He seemed, relieved? Deidara thought he was imagining things.

Sasori brought a palm to the blonde's forehead. He cursed silently under his breath. He withdrew his hand for a moment then brought it back with a soaked cloth. He laid the cloth on Deidara's forehead, letting it rest there and removing his hand once again. He then looked down at the blonde.

Deidara stared at his partner for a while, his face slightly twisted into a frown but his eyes questioning. He didn't know what to make of this anymore. He didn't know the questions to ask. He didn't know who to trust.

"Danna?" His voice came out in almost a whisper.

"Yes?"

"_Why_? Why didn't you do anything back before we came into the village? Why didn't you answer me? Why did you follow me to that house? Why didn't you deny that you were going to help _him_? Why are you still here, un?"

"Deidara…"

"Why did you leave me alone, un?"

"I…"

"Because I wouldn't leave you alone, danna. I know you think I'm an annoying brat but you're the closest thing I've ever had to a friend. I know you hate me but…you're the only one I trusted, un. I-AHH!"

A cry escaped Deidara's lips as his entire body wracked with pain.

_Danna…why?_

* * *

Sasori had grabbed his partner's wrist to check the kid's pulse as soon as he began twisting in pain. Frowning, he released his hold and started dabbing the sweat of Deidara's face with a wet cloth. The fatality of the poison was past but because of the amount of toxin and the blonde's small body size, he was still pretty sick.

"Shh, Deidara, shh." He tried to calm his partner. "I don't hate you…shh…you'll be alright…Deidara…Deidara? Deidara!"

Sasori was slightly worried that he was unable to calm the blonde. Deidara gasped as more pain shot through his veins.

"Deidara, come on. Deidara, do you hear me? Answer me! Deidara!"

The blonde was twisting and gasping in pain. Sasori tried to think of ways to calm the kid down. He wished he had something to take the pain away. He made a mental note to look for something later but that didn't help him at the moment. Sasori shook his head. There wasn't much he could do. Instead, he kept running the cloth over the kid's forehead and tried to soothe his partner with words. Eventually, Deidara calmed down and his eyes gazed deep into Sasori's still questioning. Sasori let the cloth rest on the blonde' forehead.

"I don't hate you, Deidara. I may have thought you annoying at times but I never hated you."

Sasori stopped. He wasn't very good at this thing. But Deidara's eyes silently pleaded with Sasori to go on. Sasori wasn't even sure Deidara knew what he was doing, but it didn't matter.

"I don't know why I didn't help you. I should have, but I didn't. I'm sorry. I wanted to, but that doesn't change anything now. I didn't answer you because I didn't know what to answer. I followed you because I realized a mistake. I didn't speak up because there was some cruel trick of a justu that ninja used so that I couldn't answer. I'm still here because you're my partner…and my friend."

Deidara closed his eyes a moment as his face contorted in pain. His eyes again opened as he looked at Sasori.

"Sorry danna, un."

_What?_

What did Deidara have to be sorry for?

"For what?"

"For doubting…for not listening, un."

"Don't be. It was my fault Deidara. You don't have to apologize."

Deidara leaned his head back and a ghost of smile passed over his flushed face.

"So, what's going on then, un?"

"Well, I suppose the first thing you should know is that we're not in Akatsuki anymore."

Deidara's eyes widened a bit.

"What?"

"Do you remember what that ninja said? Apparently, he works for Akatsuki. And apparently, they don't need you anymore."

"So – ngh - what about you then, un?"

"He wanted me to do something for them. I don't know what. He…offered me a higher position. I didn't take it."

Deidara blinked a couple of times.

"Why?"

"Because it was bullshit. And I wouldn't let you die."

"They'll kill us both now though, un."

"Yes."

"I never cared about Akatsuki. I don't mind. But you…"

"I made my own decision."

"So then…what happened after that, un?"

"We had a battle. You were severely poisoned as a result. I'm sorry for that too."

Deidara shook his head.

"But that was my fault. I…started it, un."

Deidara shuddered in pain and Sasori placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It doesn't matter. I still did it. But anyways, that's why you're so sick. I managed to extract most of the poison but there's still a bit left."

Deidara closed his eyes once again.

"I thought you were going to leave me alone. Everyone else did you know. But you didn't."

A small smile appeared on the blonde's face.

"Thank you danna, un."

Sasori nodded slowly.

"Right well…try and sleep. With Akatsuki looking for us now we can't stay here too long. We need to go in a few hours so just rest."

Sasori didn't need to say anything more. When he turned back to look at the blonde, he realized the kid was already asleep. He pulled the covers of the bed up a bit so that they were just over the blonde's chin. He then replaced the wet cloth on Deidara's forehead.

"…You're welcome…brat."

* * *

**A/N: And done! Woah, the plot thickens! Like, a lot! Plot twist...yay. So yes, that is right. Deidara and Sasori are no longer part of Akatsuki! Quite by accident...but still...**

**Sasori is not really a heartless bastard~~~ I think I can use this for blackmail...:o**

**Also, I wasn't trying to make Deidara seem like, wimpy or whiny or anything. Just confused... _ **

**And what was Tobi doing there? But you'll see...you'll see...it's not over yet :3 **

**Anyways, hope you all enjoyed! I really liked this chapter so I hope you guys like it too! And THANK YOU to everyone who reviews and supports! Really, thank you!**


	10. Revealed

**A/N: Yes, I realize how I normally do things is post a chapter for this fic then a chapter for Times. But, this is the 10th chapter! I had quite a few ideas for it and wanted to get them all in before I forgot them. **

**So, yay, 10th chapter is here! So much in this chapter...yes, I like to go through many plot twists in these things. Not really much to say beforehand this time...I'm just so excited that I got the 10th chapter out! *Bounces around like a three-year-old***

**Hm...as far as the time goes, I know I said earlier that it _was supposed_ to be two years before Sasori died, but I'm not so sure anymore. Some things that happen later in the fic might just make it normal Shippuden time. And yeah, I'll be messing up the ages in that case. I doubt that's really something major though...:P**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy the 10th chapter of this fic! And, I still don't own the Naruto characters as much as I want to. **

* * *

_**Mission Impossible**_

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Revealed**

* * *

Sasori stood over his sleeping blonde partner whose breathing had become much more even and fever gone way down. It was a relief, but they had to go now and Sasori didn't really want to wake the kid up. Deidara was still sick and it seemed as if he was just finally able to get some decent rest. Still, they had to go. They shouldn't stay there any longer than they had to.

Sighing, he looked down at his partner. His face still slightly flush from the fever and left arm wrapped in constrictive bandages up to his elbow. He really needed to rest. Sasori shook his head. They had to go.

"Deidara? Come on, wake up. Time to go." He gave the blonde a light shake on the shoulder.

Deidara shifted his position a bit and slowly opened his visible eye. He blinked a few times before carefully pushing himself into a sitting position.

"We got to go now, un?" Deidara asked, turning his head to face Sasori.

"Yes."

"Alright"

Deidara began getting up but swayed a bit as he did so, still being a little unsteady on his feet from the poison. Sasori grabbed the blonde and steadied him.

"You okay to get up?"

"I'm fine danna, un."

"If you say so. Get yourself ready then meet me downstairs."

Deidara nodded.

"Okay, un."

* * *

Deidara watched Sasori leave before turning to prepare to leave. He hadn't wanted tell Sasori, but there was something about his left eye that was bugging him. Everything seemed to be a little blurry out of it and it felt a little sore. He reached his hand up and lightly touched it, jerking his hand back a moment later and hissing in pain.

He didn't know what had happened but he assumed it had something to do with the recent battle he had with his partner. He wondered about telling Sasori. He shook his head. It was probably fine; maybe he just hit it on something. He wouldn't bug Sasori about it. Though, it was bugging him that he couldn't _see_ very well out of it. But his scope would fix that. So it wouldn't be a problem.

Quickly, he found the scope and hurried to put it on.

"Ow! Shit…un…"

As soon as the cold metal had made contact with his eye, the whole thing burned in pain. He couldn't wear it after all. Frowning, he looked the item over as he held it in his hand.

_There goes that theory._

Jamming the thing in his pocket he quickly finished getting himself ready and rushed to meet Sasori. He'd figure the whole thing out later. It wasn't bugging him too much, though it was annoying.

"Alright danna, let's go, un." He said upon meeting his partner.

"Wait, first things first. We have to get rid of a few things."

"Huh?"

"Your ring."

"Oh, right. What about yours, un?"

"I got rid of it already."

Deidara nodded and pulled the Akatsuki ring off his finger.

"What do I do with it, un?"

"Whatever you want."

Deidara smirked. In an instant, he had it molded inside a clay bird. Without giving any sort of warning, he flew the bird up and detonated it. Sasori raised an eyebrow.

"That's a tad excessive, don't you think?"

"Nah, I finally figured out a good use for it! It became art, un!"

Sasori only rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, brat."

Deidara smirked a bit more before pulling off his Akatsuki cloak and frowning.

"What about this, un?" He asked Sasori. He noticed the puppet master wasn't wearing it anymore but instead just a plain black one.

"Keep it for now, but don't wear it. It might be useful later."

"Alright…"

He began folding up the cloak but it was a little difficult since he still only had one arm to do it with. Sasori sighed as he watched the blonde fumbling with the article.

"Here," Sasori grabbed the cloak away and folded it. "Wear this instead. It's still cold out there."

He handed Deidara another cloak like his. It was slightly oversized and a little thinner than the Akatsuki cloak, but it would work for the time being. Sasori shook his head and crossed his arms.

"What, un?"

"It looks ridiculous." Sasori deadpanned.

"Well you gave it to me." Deidara huffed.

Sasori tilted his head a bit.

"Besides, it's fine, un."

"You're swimming in it." Sasori stated matter-of-factly.

"What do you want to do about it then, un?"

"Well," Sasori sighed, "I suppose it will have to work for now." His face twisted into a smirk. "You look like you were playing dress-up with mommy's clothes."

Deidara felt the color rise to his cheeks.

"H-hey! It's not funny Sasori-danna, un!"

'"Whatever, let's go."

"Does it really look that bad, un?"

"Yes."

Deidara stopped.

"Brat, come on, let's go."

'"But you said it looks funny, un."

"Worry about the damn cloak later. We have to go."

"But you said-"

"Ugh, look, we'll get you another one later. Now get your ass in gear before I _drag_ you."

"But-"

"Deidara…"

"Fine"

Deidara grumbled a bit as he followed behind Sasori. Of _course_ Sasori didn't care; he wasn't the one to wear it. Though, Deidara hadn't thought the thing was that bad. Sure it was big but it would work. It didn't look that awful, did it?

Deidara shook his head. He supposed he had more important things to worry about than if his clothes fit properly.

They travelled for quite a while before Deidara thought of something.

"Danna?"

"What?"

"Where are we going, un?"

Sasori stopped short for a moment.

"Shut up brat." He continued walking.

"Ah, you don't know, un."

"I said shut up!"

"Why are we walking then? Shouldn't we figure out where to go first? Walking around in circles isn't going to get us anywhere, un."

"We just had to get away from there as quick as possible."

"But you don't know where we're going, un."

Sasori turned and glared a bit.

"What do you suggest?"

"Well…" Deidara began slowly, "Did leader-sama _himself_ tell you that we were, you know, no longer in Akatsuki? I mean, if he didn't, how do we know that's what he wanted? We don't know this other ninja, how do we know he's telling the truth?"

"That's…a good question…" Sasori mumbled under his breath.

"Huh?"

"I said Zetsu was there too."

Sasori crossed his arms. Deidara knew he didn't like being wrong.

"What does that prove? Well anyways, we should go back to Akatsuki and see what's going on. Besides, I left some of my stuff there and I don't want to just leave it. I'm sure you have some things you can pick up too, un."

Sasori raised an eyebrow.

"What? It's a start. And it's better than nothing, un."

"Fine. But what do we do after that?"

"Eh, I don't know. But it's not 'after that' yet so we don't have to worry, un!"

Sasori rolled his eyes.

"Alright, we'll go."

Deidara smirked.

"But it's a long way back to Akatsuki."

"We can fly, un."

Sasori heaved a sigh.

"What? It's not like you have your puppet thing with you, un."

"It's called Hiroku, brat. And yes I have it; I just have to fix it. But you're not flying now. I don't want you wasting all your chakra. Later, _maybe_." He added extra emphasis on the "maybe."

"But danna! It's so much faster, un!"

"Not now. No. Maybe later."

"But-"

"Deidara…"

"Oh come on Sasori no danna. It's way faster. We'll get there in two days instead of a week! Come on, un!"

Sasori covered his face with his hand.

"Fine. But you land if I tell you to take a break. Got it?"

"Yes danna!"

* * *

Sasori grumbled as he climbed on the back of the bird Deidara had just made. He never liked travelling this way much though it was, admittedly, much faster. He just didn't get the "thrill" that his blonde partner did. He liked travelling on solid ground that wouldn't move, thank you very much. Also, he really didn't want Deidara wasting all his chakra on flying. One could never tell when they could be attacked by enemies and Deidara was still recovering a bit though he seemed much better.

The puppet master was also slightly upset that his partner had thought up this idea before him. It was a good question to ask; why hadn't Pein himself told them? But Zetsu had been there, it seemed legitimate. Sasori wasn't sure. Deidara could be a bit of an optimist at times but Sasori supposed it didn't hurt to at least try. The only problem was, if they were indeed no longer members of Akatsuki, there would be seven other S-class ninja out to kill them once they got there. They would have to fight people who at least matched them in rank. Some might even outmatch the two.

Sasori glanced up at his blonde partner. Funny how Deidara hadn't even said a word since they had started flying. Normally he would be chattering away by now about whatever. But at the moment the kid was only fumbling with something in his hands and muttering to himself.

"Deidara?"

The blonde looked up quickly and shoved whatever he had into his pocket.

_Was that, his scope? Doesn't he wear it all the time though? Maybe it's broken?_

"What, un?"

Sasori suddenly had the curiosity to ask about the scope. It was abnormal for Deidara not to be wearing the item.

"Cat got your tongue? It's not like you to be so quiet."

He decided against it. What did it matter? The scope was probably only broken. Or, he was seeing things.

"I thought you liked quiet danna, un."

"I do. I was just making sure your voice was still there. Wouldn't want you to lose that, now would we?" Sasori said sarcastically.

Deidara rolled his eyes.

"I can start talking your ear off if you like, un."

Sasori almost laughed. Almost. The dead-serious look his partner was giving him was just too funny.

"Do that and you might wind up dead." Sasori said without missing a beat.

"Nah, you wouldn't kill me danna, un!"

"Don't push your luck, brat."

Sasori growled like he was threatening the blonde but in all honesty the whole thing was highly amusing to him. He could tell Deidara was amused too as the blonde merely rolled his eyes and laughed lightly.

"Eh, I've already pushed my limit so much already; what's a little more, un?"

The kid smirked. Now it was Sasori's turn to roll his eyes and cross his arms.

"Whatever, brat."

Deidara laughed a bit more and then went off about something else.

_Maybe he was just thinking about Akatsuki…_

Eventually, the two reached the Akatsuki hideout. Deidara landed his bird a few miles outside the vicinity so that they wouldn't attract so much attention and they continued the rest of the journey on foot. Neither of them said much on the walk. They were both alert, on the lookout for anything that might give them away.

Sasori also thought. He had been wondering about Deidara for the past couple days. He had more than once now seen the blonde playing with his scope when he thought Sasori wasn't looking. He wondered why Deidara wasn't wearing it. He kept telling himself it was only because it was broken, but then why would Deidara try to hide it from Sasori? If it was only broken then Deidara wouldn't mind telling his partner. In fact, he'd probably be complaining about it the whole time until he got it fixed. But Sasori had heard no such complaints.

He wanted to ask Deidara what was going on with it but they were at Akatsuki already. It wasn't a good time. Besides, he figured Deidara would tell him if it was anything really important. The blonde must have his reasons for keeping it a secret.

Silently, the two shinobi made their way to the entrance of the base. Sasori didn't sense anyone around. Exchanging glances with Deidara he knew the blonde didn't either. Warily, they eyed the area. Sasori performed the necessary seals to enter the base and slipped inside, followed closely by his younger partner. The place felt so empty; something was wrong.

"It's so, _quiet_, un." Deidara whispered. He voiced Sasori's opinion entirely.

"It's only because you haven't been here for so long." Sasori whispered back.

Deidara only shook his head and Sasori knew he wasn't in the mood for joking around. He didn't blame the blonde; the place seemed even more foreboding than usual. At least normally he felt welcome there. Or he didn't get the same ominous feeling in any case.

"Should we get our stuff first, un?"

"I think we should look around a bit actually. If we have to leave suddenly and we only grabbed our belongings then we won't have learned anything. We can do without most of it and the stuff we can't we'll just pick up elsewhere."

Deidara nodded.

"I'll check down here then, un."

"Deidara, wait! I don't think we should-"

The kid was already gone.

"…Split up…ugh…"

Then again, maybe Deidara was on to something. It would be harder for anyone to spot them if they were separated. And they'd learn things more quickly, or at least be able to cover ground faster than if they stayed together.

Slowly and carefully, Sasori began walking around the Akatsuki base looking for something, _anything_ that could tell him what was going on. Even if what that ninja said was the truth he still wanted to know why Akatsuki didn't want his partner anymore.

Oddly enough, he found nothing. No one at all was in the base as far as he could tell. Surely not everyone could be out on a mission, could they? That would leave the base unguarded – Pein would never do that. The second odd thing he noticed was that nothing in the base seemed to have been touched for at least a week. Everything was dust covered and certain items that he was sure would have been moved in the time they were gone were still hadn't been.

He walked down a long hall when he suddenly heard someone call out to him.

"Danna, come quick!"

Deidara was shouting. This must be important. He raced towards the room he heard the sound coming from.

"What?"

Deidara turned to him, visible blue eye wide with shock.

"Look!"

He pointed and Sasori followed the direction of his finger. Sasori's mouth dropped in surprise as his eyes widened.

"What the hell?"

There, in front of him, was their leader. Dead.

Sasori carefully made his way towards the corpse, wary for any traps. Deidara stayed back. Sasori didn't blame him. The kid was probably at least slightly scared. Sasori knew he himself was a little freaked out by the event. This was the Akatsuki leader who lay in front of him. Whoever did this _had_ to be strong. Whoever did this was most likely beyond both Deidara's and Sasori's skill level combined. Whoever did this was sending a message.

"How, um, how long has he, um, you know…" Deidara asked in almost a whisper.

"At least a week I'd say. Probably more."

The place stank of death. Sasori turned to face his partner. The blonde looked like he wanted to get out of there as soon as humanly possible.

Deidara made his way to the desk and started shuffling through some papers that lay there.

"I hate corpses, un."

Sasori was surprised for a brief moment. Surely Deidara had seen his share of death in the ninja world. And it wasn't like they didn't kill with their occupation. Then, it hit him. Deidara always blew his opponents up. No bodies to be left. And the blonde never had liked his human puppets. He always mentioned something about them being "creepy."

"Hey, Sasori-danna, look at this, un."

Sasori got up and took the paper Deidara handed him, reading it over briefly.

"It's a…contract… of sorts."

"Mm, yeah. Read it and look who signed it, un."

Sasori read the paper over in its entirety. It stated that the undersigned agreed to defect from Akatsuki in order to create a new and better "Akatsuki" that would achieve its goal through "real means" rather than "playing around." Under the statement were the names of the rest of the Akatsuki members excluding Pein and Konan. The paper didn't exactly state the "means" but Sasori knew whoever came and did this must have made it sound pretty convincing.

Sasori lowered the paper and his eyes met Deidara's who had been watching him read.

"Why didn't they want us?" He asked himself more than his partner.

"They didn't want _me_, remember? And anyways, I know. Right here there are stats about each member. Look closely and you'll see certain things circled about each of us with notes. Apparently I'm "too young and stubborn" and also a "troublemaker." Plus, I was the "most unlikely to agree" and they "already had enough long range fighters." I just didn't make the cut, un." Deidara shrugged his shoulders.

Sasori glanced at the other papers on the table and sure enough, his partner was right. Deidara was pretty observant.

"Well, don't you two just _love_ running into me?"

Sasori clenched his teeth and spun around. Deidara turned as well and they both came face to face with the heavily cloaked ninja.

"Hm, didn't expect to see you two here. Of all places; but never mind that."

"What is this all, un?" Deidara hissed. The shinobi laughed.

"As if you can't see what's right in front of you. What does it _look_ like?"

"Where is everyone else?" Sasori asked calmly.

"Ah, that is for me to know and you, well, let's just say it's none of your business right now."

Sasori felt Deidara tense next to him. He slightly shook his head. He noticed Deidara relax a bit though the blonde was still on his guard.

"I said, where are they?" Sasori asked again.

"And I said that's none of your business."

"This is all your doing, un!"

"Give the boy a prize." The ninja stated sarcastically. "Who _else_ would it be?"

"What is your purpose?" Sasori decided on a different question.

"Why, my purpose is Akatsuki's purpose of course."

"Then what is all this, un?!" Deidara shouted, his voice echoing through the halls.

Sasori frowned. Deidara could be rather excitable at times. He wasn't sure this was a good thing.

"I'm sorry, but I fail to comprehend what you mean."

"You know what I mean! If you're with Akatsuki, what is all this shit, un?"

"Deidara…" Sasori hissed lowly to his partner in a warning tone. They couldn't let this ninja control them.

The shinobi laughed sardonically.

"You might as well know. You'd find out soon enough anyways. The simple truth of the matter is that _I_ am Akatsuki's true leader. And, well he," The ninja waved an arm towards the body on the ground, "Just wasn't serving my purposes anymore."

"Who are you, un?" Deidara asked suspiciously.

The ninja laughed again and began removing his cloak.

"My name," He drawled, "Is Madara, Madara Uchiha."

The cloak fell away to reveal a tall man with long black hair and the Sharingan spinning in his eyes. Sasori's eyes widened. Madara Uchiha was dead. That's what everyone thought anyways. He cast a sideward glance at his partner whose eyes were narrowed and filled with rage.

_Great, can this get any worse?_

If there was one thing Deidara absolutely despised it was the Sharingan. And Uchiha in general but mostly the Sharingan. After all, it had been thanks to Itachi's eyes that the blonde was in Akatsuki in the first place. He only hoped that Deidara could keep a lid on his temper and not do anything reckless.

"Nothing to say?" Madara raised an eyebrow as if daring them to say something.

Sasori felt Deidara start to take a step forward.

"How did you get the others to agree?" He asked quickly. Deidara stopped.

"Let's just say they, saw the light." The Uchiha answered, tilting his head a bit and smirking.

Sasori stared the ninja down. The thing to do was figure out how to get away. Deidara and him were both in way over their heads. Even if this man wasn't Madara, he was strong enough to kill Pein. That had to count for something. And though it would be two on one Sasori knew for a fact that Deidara wasn't at one hundred percent. Even if the blonde was completely fine they'd still have their hands full. No, it would be best to try and run and live to fight another day.

"You know, Sasori, you still have a chance."

Sasori snapped out of his thoughts. He felt Deidara stiffen.

"You don't have to waste your life because of this brat. It's simple, just side with me now and be done with it. I trust you to make the wise decision."

"_You!_" Deidara hissed.

Sasori sensed the blonde beginning to take a step forward while shoving his hand into his pouch to prepare some clay. He quickly put his arm out in front of Deidara. They couldn't get into a fight. Madara laughed.

"What is it, Sasori? You don't want him to get hurt? But we can do it quickly you know."

Sasori felt his anger building. This wasn't good. He already had to make sure his partner wouldn't do anything stupid. He tried to calm himself down.

"I thought I already told you no."

"Yes, but people can change their minds."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because," Madara took a step closer, "We both know this charade is only for his sake." He nodded towards Deidara. "You didn't trust me completely and you figured leaving your _partner_ alone would get you in trouble with Akatsuki. You don't really care about this kid. Think about it."

"You, LIAR!" Deidara screamed.

Sasori was too late to stop his partner this time. The blonde quickly molded some explosives and tossed them towards the other ninja. Madara merely moved out of the way like it was nothing. Deidara hissed and quickly made a higher level explosive, sending it the Uchiha's way.

"Aw, can't stand the truth? Honesty hurts sometimes, doesn't it Deidara?"

Suddenly, Madara was behind the blonde, knocking him into a nearby wall. Deidara got back on his feet and started making more explosives.

"Deidara!" Sasori shouted.

_Idiot! Is he trying to get us both killed?_

Deidara ignored Sasori and Madara laughed.

"Really, I thought you'd be more _entertaining_ than this."

The blonde narrowed his eyes and began molding an even higher level bomb before beginning to rush at the other shinobi. Sasori quickly pulled out a puppet scroll and used the puppet to grab his partner by the waist and slam the blonde into the wall. He winced mentally at the sound of impact.

"What the hell danna, un?!" Deidara struggled to break free.

_Sorry Deidara. It's for your own good. _

Madara laughed yet again.

"So you do agree with me then, eh Sasori? Good to know."

Sasori's eyes widened a bit as he mentally slapped himself. How could he be so stupid? Madara began approaching the trapped blonde.

Sasori wanted to let his partner go but he didn't want the kid to start attacking the Uchiha again. They needed to get out of there as soon as possible. Slowly, he dragged Deidara towards him. However, Deidara somehow managed to make a small bomb and detonate it on the puppet that was holding him. The puppet fell off and Deidara sprung forward.

_Shit!_

Sasori dashed after his partner. He caught up and grabbed the blonde's wrist which Deidara promptly snatched away before making more explosives and sending them towards the ninja.

"Now this is entertaining." Madara said with a hint of glee.

Somehow, the Uchiha managed to turn Deidara's bombs around and sent them flying back towards Sasori and the blonde. Deidara narrowed his eyes and detonated the bombs before they reached the two, although it was a little too close for Sasori's comfort. This had to stop.

_Sorry Deidara._

Quickly, he grabbed Deidara by his shoulders, holding the blonde back.

"Let me at him!" Deidara shouted and tried to break free. Sasori's grip tightened.

"Look" He whispered in his partner's ear. "We can't take him on right now; he's far beyond our skill level."

"But we're going to have to-"

"Listen to me! The circumstances aren't right. We hardly know anything about him; we don't stand a chance. We need to leave. _Now._"

Deidara broke out of Sasori's grasp.

"If we can't defeat him now I don't see how that's going to change later, un!"

"Deidara…"

"Having an argument, are we?" Madara interrupted. "Sasori, you can cut the act you know. I see what you're trying to do." He smirked evilly.

"Shut up, un!"

Sasori couldn't tell whether Deidara was shouting at him or Madara. It could have been both of them.

Deidara suddenly molded another explosive and, without any warning, detonated it. The impact was huge. Sasori jumped back and shielded himself as he felt the power of the blast. Upon opening his eyes again, he saw a cloud of dust and smoke had taken over the room. In an instant, he sensed his partner behind him.

"Come on danna, un!"

Sasori started after the blonde. So Deidara had been smart after all. He'd had the sense to create the illusion of wanting to fight and then, when no one had expected it, he'd made a distraction for them to get away. It was, brilliant, really.

The two quickly made their way down the many passages and finally out the exit. Deidara hurriedly made a clay bird and hopped on its back, waiting for Sasori to do the same before taking off.

"Is he following, un?"

Sasori glanced back.

"I can't be certain."

Deidara nodded.

"We'll assume he is for now, un." He urged the bird on faster.

They flew for two hours, in which direction Sasori didn't even know but as long as it was away from Madara, it was fine.

"I don't think he's following. Even if he was, he wouldn't be able to catch up with us." Sasori stated.

"Probably, un."

Slowly, Deidara brought the bird to the ground. The two shinobi slid off the bird and it disintegrated into a cloud of dust. Deidara leaned against a tree. Sasori could tell the blonde was tired. They had been travelling for hours on Deidara's bird for a good part of the day, then battled with Madara, then flown for another two hours. It was only natural for Deidara to be slightly exhausted. Sasori looked towards the setting sun.

"We'll stay here for the night." He told his partner.

Deidara nodded.

"You set up. I'll see what supplies I can find."

"Alright, un."

Deidara nodded again and began unpacking a few things. Sasori turned to leave.

"I'll be right back."

* * *

Deidara watched Sasori leave as he began to set up a little camp. Quite honestly, that ninja, Madara, had been getting on his last nerves. And, in a way, he knew that the Uchiha was lying, but still the words of the shinobi haunted him. He did trust Sasori. But still some doubt lingered. He pushed the thoughts away. Sasori had come this far with him. The puppet master wouldn't betray his young partner, he said so himself. And Deidara trusted him.

Sighing, Deidara sat down and pulled out his scope. He hadn't been able to wear at all for the past two days, his eye hurt so much. Worse yet, it was hard to see anything out of it. He didn't like it. He couldn't see anything in his peripheral vision on his left. He contemplated telling Sasori. After all, this whole matter hadn't fixed itself by waiting. But was it something to really bother the puppet master about? Maybe he just hadn't waited long enough. Slowly, he lifted the scope up to his eye and tried putting it on yet again.

"Damnit!" He hissed, pulling back in pain and clenching his fist.

"Something wrong?"

Sasori. When had he come back? Deidara hadn't noticed.

"Um, it's nothing much, un." Deidara answered quickly, hiding the scope.

"Nothing much?"

Sasori dropped the armful of wood he had as well as a bag of something else. He gave Deidara a questioning look.

"It's just…well, my eye hurts. It's probably nothing though, un."

Deidara looked away from Sasori. The puppet master sat down in front of the blonde. Deidara turned his head back slowly.

"Show me."

Sighing, Deidara pulled back his bangs. Sasori leaned in a bit and frowned.

"How long has it hurt for?"

"Two days, un."

"Two days and you're just telling me now? Ugh, never mind that. Let me see…"

Sasori lifted his hand and pressed gently around Deidara's eye. Deidara hissed and tried to pull back.

"Hm" Sasori's frown deepened. "It's definitely swollen. Can you see out of it?"

Deidara shook his head.

"Not very well, un."

"Hm…wait a minute…" Sasori mumbled to himself.

He placed a hand over the blonde's forehead. For some reason, Sasori's hand felt very cool to Deidara and it seemed to soothe some of the pain.

"Damnit…" Sasori cursed under his breath. "You have any other symptoms?"

Sasori retracted his hand and Deidara had to fight to keep himself from whining in protest. That had felt good.

"I've been tired more than normal lately." He said in response to his partner. Was there anything else? "And my head hurts a little…un…"

Sasori closed his eyes and cursed again.

"What, un?"

Sasori opened his eyes again and looked his partner over.

"Poison. That's what. When we were fighting one of the senbon must have scraped your eye. Your scope did fall off…and I overlooked it…damnit…I can't believe I didn't notice this before…shit…" Sasori was mumbling to himself now.

Deidara let his bangs fall back into place.

"You can…fix it, right, un?"

Sasori covered his face with his hand.

"I don't have any more of the antidote. There was some back at the base but I never got the chance to grab any. I doubt the effects will be deadly, seeing as you're still alive after _two days_ of this. Most of the poison must have come out when I extracted it earlier. Still, there's some in your eye and since the effects haven't weakened in that time I can't just say the toxins will eventually disperse."

"But…you can do something, can't you, un?"

Sasori uncovered his face and looked at the blonde with a frown present on his features.

"I could see if I can find the ingredients for the antidote around here. Though I'm not sure how long that would take and even if I can find everything I need. By the time I actually got something for you it might, well, I know I said I doubt the effects will be deadly, but you never know. At the very least the time gap will probably cause permanent irreversible damage to be done."

"There's another way, isn't there, un?"

Sasori nodded slowly.

"There is. I could try and drain the poison from your eye. But it's likely that because of this there is still some poison in your blood. I could drain it from your eye but since it won't be completely healed when I'm done the rest of the poison could come and re-infect the area. I'd have to extract the rest of the toxin from your blood in order to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Why don't you then, un?"

"It's dangerous. The only way to get the poison out would be to bleed you. If something goes wrong you could end up bleeding to death. Not to mention you'll be weak after the extraction."

"Danna, it's fine. I know you wouldn't let me die, un."

Sasori gave the blonde a hopeless sort of look.

"I wouldn't mean to but I just can't predict these things."

"So, what _are_ you going to do then, un?"

Sasori sighed.

"Really danna, it's alright. If it's the only option, then do it and get it over with, un."

"I'm warning you Deidara, this-"

"Is dangerous, I know. But you said so yourself you're not sure if you can find the ingredients for the antidote. And this will work. Just do it, un."

Sasori sighed again.

"Fine. Lie down. I'm going to have to put you under."

Nodding, Deidara lay down on one of the bedrolls. Sasori shuffled around a bit before pulling out a needle filled with a clear liquid.

"You sure about this?"

"Yes, un."

"Alright then."

Sasori administered the needle to Deidara's arm. Slowly, Deidara felt his eyes closing.

…

….

…..

….

…..

…..

….

…

…..

….

…

"_Deidara, wake up."_

_Huh?_

"_Come on, wake up."_

Deidara could vaguely make out Sasori's voice as he blinked his eyes open. He noticed there was something covering his left eye and his forehead as well as a blanket placed over him. He could tell that it was nighttime by the dark sky and many twinkling stars above. He saw Sasori's face hovering over him.

"Good, you're awake." Sasori noted, sitting back. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine I guess, un." His voice sounded tired. He began to sit up but Sasori stopped him.

"No. You can't get up."

Deidara laid back.

"Well, we'll have to see how this plays out. I'm pretty sure I got everything so you should be fine now." He paused for a moment before adding to himself, "Good thing too because I don't have any more anesthetic or anything."

"So you did it all then, un."

"Yes. I did. Now just go back to sleep. We'll have more things to discuss tomorrow."

* * *

Sasori watched the blonde settle back down and drift off to sleep before setting up some traps around the campsite and laying down himself. He couldn't believe himself. How did he not notice this before? Deidara _had_ looked a little off over the past couple of days.

_Nothing to be done for it now. At least it's fixed. _

Morning came without any warning. Sasori sat up. He didn't even remember falling asleep. He looked around and was surprised to see his young partner sitting up and eating something.

"Morning danna, un." Deidara said cheerily.

Sasori looked the blonde over. Deidara seemed much better, he could tell. He didn't look so tired and the light flush that had tinted his face before was no longer present. Sasori was relieved.

"You feeling better?" He already knew the answer to this question, but he asked anyways.

"Yeah, much better now, un."

Sasori nodded.

"Good."

He got up and sat in front of his partner.

"Let me see here…"

He brushed back Deidara's bangs to reveal the bandage over the kid's left eye. Carefully, he removed it and looked the eye over. He nodded in satisfaction at what he saw.

"Good, the swelling's gone down. It might be a little sore but it will be better than before. Can you see out of it?"

"Things are still a little blurry but it's better than before, un."

"Good." Sasori replaced the bandaging. "We'll leave it like that for another day. It should be back to normal by tomorrow."

Deidara nodded in agreement and continued eating his breakfast. Sasori then noted the blonde's arm which was still wrapped up in bandages and a sling.

"How's your arm?" He asked.

"Hm? Oh, fine I guess. It doesn't hurt much anymore. It's just annoying. Hey, when can I use it again, un?"

"Not for a while if you want it to heal properly."

Deidara grumbled something to himself.

"These things take time, Deidara. And it was a bad break." Sasori continued.

"I know, I know, it's just makes things difficult, un."

Sasori sighed as Deidara grumbled a bit more.

"I'll take a look at it in a couple weeks or so. Until then, if it's really bothering you, try not to _do_ anything with it. It will heal faster that way."

"Too bad there are no medics around, or any that would help us anyways, un."

Sasori silently agreed. While he could do medical things he couldn't use chakra to heal injuries like a medic could. No, Deidara was out of luck in that aspect. Sasori sat back and got himself some food.

"Well, we have other things to discuss." He said quietly.

"Hm? I say we just forget about that Madara guy. We don't have to deal with him anymore, un."

"That's not entirely what I was talking about though we _might_ have to worry about him. I think he still wants to chase us after all. Oh, and by the way, that was pretty smart of you yesterday. You even had me fooled."

He didn't know why he said it. He never really complimented Deidara. But his partner had done a good job. At least, Sasori hadn't thought up anything so good. Deidara smirked.

"Well, to be honest, I didn't think of it until _after_ you slammed me into the wall, un."

Sasori rolled his eyes. Of course. Deidara never was one to plan ahead. No, that was Sasori's job. In Sasori's perfect world, he would have every situation assessed and thought out so that should x, y, or z happen, he was prepared. But Deidara didn't think that way. It was what got the blonde into so much trouble. But it was also what got him out in a pinch.

Deidara couldn't think twenty moves ahead, but he could asses any situation and think of a solution. Quickly, at that. And he was so unpredictable that the enemy could never expect what was coming. It was a different kind of smart. Sasori kept the pair out of trouble, but Deidara helped them escape _from_ it when things went awry. Sasori shook his head. No matter what had happened, it was still smart.

"Anyways," Sasori started, "We do have to discuss what we are going to do."

"What do you mean, un?"

"Where do we go from here? Now that we're no longer in Akatsuki, what do we do? We're still rogue after all."

"Danna," Deidara spoke up suddenly. "Do you ever regret leaving Suna? I mean, do you miss it, un?"

Sasori truly failed to see what this had to do with anything. But he'd humor the blonde, for now. He chose his words carefully.

"Sometimes I wish things were different but all in all, no, I do not regret it. I could not achieve my goals in Suna."

"Do you still have those goals now, un?"

Sasori stared at the blonde. Just what was he trying to get at?

"I suppose."

"But you've perfected your jutsu, un."

Sasori raised an eyebrow.

"What are you going on about?"

"What more do you want, un?"

"There is always something that can be perfected."

"Like?"

Sasori thought of something.

"Do you miss Iwa, Deidara?"

"W-what? Where'd you – I mean, well, um…a little…un…"

Now Sasori knew where the questions were coming from.

"Do you have family there?"

"Sort-of, un" He said softly.

"Sort-of?"

"Never mind, un."

Sasori tilted his head a bit.

"I mean, I don't think there's anyone left, un."

Sasori was curious, he really was, but he kept it to himself. He knew what Deidara was getting at now.

"They wouldn't take us back, Deidara. They'd sooner kill us."

"I know that."

_Then why the questions?_

"Well then, what do we do?"

"Don't you have any ideas, un?"

"Not a clue. No village will have us, Akatsuki won't have us; I suppose we could go around looking for work from various groups though."

"Been there, done that. I don't really feel like it, un."

"What other choice do we have then?"

"No!" Deidara suddenly shouted. "I am _not_ going back to work for bastards who only think about how much people they hurt and how much money they can make! I _refuse _to take part in helping them stuff their wallets! My art wasn't meant for these things, un!"

Deidara was standing up now, anger present on his face. Sasori looked up at the blonde, his expression slightly skeptical but also surprised. Such outbursts weren't unusual from his partner, it was the subject matter that confused him.

"You did it before." Sasori stated. He honestly did not see the problem here.

"Well, I'm not doing it again, un!"

"There's no need to get so worked up. It's not like we're going to know the people anyways. And besides, not all of them have to do with killings."

"Exactly! We don't know them so we're going to hurt people who have never done anything to us or tried to do anything to us? And you never worked for any of these groups so how should you know? Huh? They _are_ all about killing! They only hire ninja for things they don't want to do themselves because they don't want to get their hands dirty, un!"

One thing was for certain, the blonde still had his moral compass. To be honest, Sasori was rather against killing people if he didn't have to either. Still, he'd been in this sort of business for so long that he had become rather desensitized to it all. It wasn't like he wanted lots of people to die, just that he didn't care so much. Though, the blonde was right. He never had worked for any other organization besides Akatsuki. Before that, he had been on his own.

"They would want to kill us if they got the chance." Sasori countered.

"Well, you can go do it if you want to but I won't follow you, un!"

"Calm down brat. I never said I was going to. If you're so against it then fine. But what _are_ we supposed to do then?"

Deidara seemed to relax slightly at this and he sat back down. Sasori sighed. At heart, Deidara would never be a true criminal. Not that he ever wanted the blonde to be. But it made Sasori wonder, if this was the case, why did Deidara ever leave Iwa in the first place?

"I don't know what we're supposed to do…un…"

Sasori leaned back and closed his eyes. They were going to have to do _something_.

"Well," He began, opening his eyes again. "I suppose our only option is to just, _live_. I mean, we can't go back to Akatsuki, you don't want to hire yourself out, and we can't go back to our villages."

"Why not, un?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why can't we go back…to our villages I mean, un."

"Deidara, they don't _want_ us. Besides, why would you want to go back? You left for a reason, I'm sure."

"Not a very good one…un…" Deidara mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

The two were silent for a moment. Deidara spoke up.

"Danna?"

"Yes?"

"I know the villages don't want us, but, we have _information_, un."

"What do you mean?"

"We were in Akatsuki; there's bound to be something the nations could get out of us. We could make a deal with them, un."

"Do you honestly think they'd hold up their end? They'd take our info and then kill us."

"How are you certain? I mean, you never know. And we could always get away, un."

"That's no guarantee."

"So? Nothing's guaranteed anymore, un."

"Fine. But who do we tell? You know yourself that the nations aren't all on friendly terms with one another. We could tell one, but not all."

"Well…I know someone in Iwa…"

"I'm sure you do."

"That's not what I meant! I mean, I think I know someone we could tell who wouldn't give us away, un."

"Really now?"

"Yeah"

"I suppose I'm not too keen on telling _Suna_ anything and since we don't rightly know any of the other nations it will have to be Iwa."

Deidara smirked and somehow Sasori felt like there was another reason Deidara wanted to go back to his home village. After all, no rogue ninja he knew would ever willingly go back to their roots without a _very_ good reason. And just to give information didn't cut it.

* * *

**A/N: *Dramatic music* Oh noes! What's going on? Sorry, but I can't tell you that yet! And yes, Creepo is Madara, Madara is Creepo. In this fic, he's alive. Very much alive. And causing trouble. And no, Madara and Tobi are not one and the same. They are very different. Just had to get that out of the way. **

**ERMERGERSH! Pein is dead?! You'll see...all in good time. Where are the other Akatsuki? Just what are Sasori and Deidara going to do after they get to Iwa? Will they get there? Why does Deidara want to go there so badly? So many questions! (I sound like one of those tv show announcer peoplez :P)**

**Let's just say there's a lot of questions to be answered. **

**Welp, hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I hope I'm not ruining things too much with my overactive imagination :P**

**Please leave a review! And thanks once again to everyone who supports this fic! Look! I would have never made it to chapter 10 without you people! I never even thought I'd made it past chapter 2 when I started writing this! I WUB YOU GUYS!**

**Take care now! :D**

**~Bwia :3 ~3~**


	11. Past, Present, and Future

**A/N: Wheee...new chapter :3**

**Um, um, I wanted to say something but I forgot just what it was...xP**

**ANYWAYS, this chapter is slightly dark at parts. And also, this fic is really just getting started now...there's so much more :3**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**I don't own the Naruto characters in this fic...**

* * *

_**Mission Impossible**_

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Past, Present, and Future**

* * *

Sasori had known this wasn't a good idea. He had known it. Why had he even allowed this? It only caused problems. It only could cause problems. He'd said it before, Deidara was an optimist. Optimism wasn't a bad thing. Except when it got in the way of reality. And then you realized just how _stupid_ it was to believe something so false.

Grumbling to himself, Sasori picked his way among the stones. He didn't particularly like this village but then he didn't particularly like any hidden village. Too many ANBU there just waiting to sink their weapons into any missing-nin they could find. Oh sure ANBU weren't that big of a deal but they were annoying. Though, quite honestly, even Sasori could be outnumbered.

Sasori vaguely wondered why Deidara had ever wanted to return in the first place. The village didn't seem quite like the place Sasori imagined Deidara would like. In fact it was just the opposite. The cold unchanging stone, the hardness of the people whose only emotion was displayed by the frowns on their faces, the lack of cheer, the lack of excitement, all of it, all of it was a stark contrast to Deidara's bright personality. How could such a happy, optimistic, _free_ person like Deidara spring from a village like Iwa? Sasori wondered how the village's gloomy overcast had not killed the blonde's personality in his time there.

Still, even people like Deidara had their days. Even people like Deidara had things that they just couldn't push past. Even Deidara had his limits. You wouldn't think it, no, it wouldn't be apparent. Not with the way these kinds of people could always bounce back. They seemed to handle whatever you threw at them. Even the worst of trials they managed to get over within a day and then forget the rest like it was all a bad dream. But everyone had a breaking point. When people like Deidara fall, they fall hard. And then they have a harder time than most getting back up.

Sasori sighed. He wished now that they had never come. Deidara might have been disappointed, angry, or whatever he normally was when he didn't get his way. But he would have come back from it. From this, Sasori just wasn't so sure.

He wondered what to do when he found the blonde. Deidara had run off someplace, he didn't know where, and he needed to find the kid. He almost wished Deidara would have stayed in one place and thrown some sort of a tantrum. At least he would know where his partner was. But instead Deidara had said nothing and quietly run off. He knew this was bad. Deidara never handled things like this quietly.

Sasori wasn't sure how to handle this matter. It was something delicate operation. He wasn't sure he was up to the task. He had lost his parents, sure, but he didn't know how to comfort. And he certainly didn't know how to comfort at something this large of a scale.

He hadn't been expecting it but then he supposed Deidara hadn't expected it either. That had been apparent after he had seen the look of shock on his young partner's face. Deidara may have always been one for showing his emotions, but he was by no means an open book. He showed his feelings because he _wanted_ to. Oftentimes, Sasori knew he could only tell what emotion Deidara was feeling because the blonde simply trusted him. But these were for things only like anger and joy. It was never much more than that. If Deidara was ever surprised, it was rare when Sasori could tell. And when he could notice it so blatantly, well, the only explanation there was that Deidara was just too shocked to remember what he normally did.

He didn't blame his partner for being shocked, he was too at first. After all, he had seen much crime in his life as an Akatsuki, as a rogue, even just as a ninja in general; there wasn't a lot he hadn't seen. Still, rarely had he seen such a display of _destruction_ as what was laid in front of him. There was practically nothing left of what must have been a small community on the outskirts of the village. And Sasori only knew what used to be there because his partner had whispered, "What happened to the houses?"

Sasori had wanted to leave as soon as he saw that. That could have only been a bad omen; they should have left. But Deidara was there in an instant, examining every inch of the place. Not that there was much to examine. The buildings were all just piles of ash. There were about one or two beams that maybe belonged to roofs at one point jutting out of the debris but otherwise there was no trace of any houses ever being there.

But Sasori could also tell that there were bodies there. How many, he didn't count. They were there though, oh yes, they were there. You couldn't tell who they were and at first might not be able to tell they were bodies at all. But Sasori knew. And he knew Deidara knew. However, there was one person who had been slightly recognizable.

Deidara had found the body. He was looking at it like, well, Sasori didn't know what. The blonde's face only seemed to hold a vacant expression. Sasori remembered looking down at the person. They must have been young, that much was certain. But whether it was a boy or girl, he couldn't tell. He _thought_ it was a girl though because the face, unlike those of the others, was still there albeit disfigured. The features seemed soft enough, yes, it seemed like a girl. A young girl. Sasori didn't know what this meant but he knew for some reason that his partner had known the person. And he had a sinking feeling that this was done to send a message to them. To Deidara.

He finally found the blonde sitting on top of a cliff, staring out across the land, one leg tucked underneath his body and the other dangling precariously off the cliff face. Deidara had always like high places for whatever reason. No matter how much Sasori yelled at him about the dangers of falling he still climbed as high as he could. And he always sat on the edge of the branch, the cliff, or wherever else he was.

"Silly danna," he would always say, "I won't fall! Even if I did I have my clay. I'd just make a bird, un!"

And Sasori would counter with the idea that he might forget his clay one day. Or he might run out. Or it would fall out of his pouch or off his waist when he started falling. What would the blonde do then? But Deidara would only laugh lightly and roll his eyes, then with a wave of his hand he'd explain that he'd think of _something,_ if it came to that. Then he'd sit even closer to the edge and swing his legs underneath him, smirking all the while and trying to see if he would get a reaction from Sasori. He was often disappointed as it never amounted to more than a "Cut that out, brat!" as Sasori would turn back and grumble about idiotic blondes. Deidara never knew that Sasori secretly glanced every now and again at the blonde to make sure he really hadn't fallen.

Sasori stood behind his partner now, unsure of what to say exactly. He didn't have to think long though. Deidara spoke first.

"I didn't know them, but they were kind to her. That's all that really mattered. I couldn't take her with me after all. I tried explaining it, but she wouldn't listen, un."

Dare he ask?

"Who?"

"My sister. I left her there, you know? After our parents died I tried to take care of her. But I had to leave. Iwa hated us but they hated me more. She never really inherited it after all. I suppose she might have had the chakra type for it. But she didn't have it like I do, un."

"Didn't have what?"

"The kekkei genkai. She just didn't have it. Not that I wanted her to. I had to leave because of it. They blamed me for destroying some buildings in the village, you know? But I didn't do it. Someone else did. It was obviously done by paper bombs but nobody really cared. So I took the scroll. It was mine anyways, well, my family's. But we were the last ones left so it was mine. I don't know why the Tsuchikage had it. He just did. I don't know what it does though. I never tried it. I was just mad, un."

Deidara paused a moment here. Sasori didn't say anything. He certainly wasn't asking for any of this information. His partner was just giving it to him. But he wouldn't interrupt.

"But I couldn't take her with me, see? She was younger than me. I couldn't make her suffer because of me. She didn't understand though. She was mad at me anyways. She didn't understand why I would destroy village property. I tried to tell her it wasn't me but she didn't listen. She believed them over me. Of course, it was their 'evidence' against my word. So I couldn't take her with me, even if I wanted to, un."

Deidara drew in a shaky breath.

"I had left her there before, you know? Before I left…because she needed a place to stay when I was on missions and I didn't want her to be alone. So she was there before. But I used to come and see her a lot. That night she left me alone. She didn't want to see me. She yelled at me and slammed the door in my face. I thought she would at least understand. But she left me too. She told me it would be better if I left. She said I was like our parents, un…"

Deidara tilted his head a bit so that he was looking up at the sky now.

"They died, but they left us before that. Well, they didn't mean to leave her, just me. But she ended up with me because they died. They didn't care much for me. They were angry because of my hands. They both had the bloodline but not like that. Mine's special; it's rare. But they didn't like it. I think they wanted to avoid it. My father tried to lose me. He took me somewhere and then left. I don't know where it was. But I followed him. I wasn't that stupid. Though maybe I was. ANBU came and killed him. I don't know why. But I watched it. They didn't see me, but they killed him. I found my way home but my mother wasn't there. My sister was though. She said our mother only went out and would be back. Well, she came back and when she saw me she asked where our father was. I told her he was gone. She dragged my sister out and left. But I followed them too. I wanted to know what was going on. She hit me and ran off. I still followed though but I never found her. I found my sister. She wanted to stay with me. Later I found our mother. But she was dead. They killed her, the ANBU I mean. They killed her too but they blamed it on an accident, un."

Deidara turned his gaze back out across the land.

"Anyways, I had to leave. She hated me after that. She wouldn't talk to me. But I still talked to her. Well, I sent her notes. I never knew if she read them but I sent them anyways. She was still my younger sister after all. I thought she might respond someday. Nobody else cared but I thought she still might. Nobody else helped me, they all left me alone, but I thought after some time she'd come around. But then Akatsuki happened. I couldn't send her that many notes anymore. Eventually I stopped altogether. I never got a response. But I never forgot. I should have found a way to tell her. I never got to say goodbye…un…"

Sasori didn't know what to say. He was sorry, but all the sorry in the world couldn't fix this.

"Now they're all dead. And those other people too. I know it's all my fault. They should have killed me instead, un."

Deidara spoke without a hint of emotion in his voice much like that time in the house when he had been mad at Sasori. Except, this tone was even more empty than that. Sasori didn't like this tone. This cold, impassive tone. It wasn't Deidara.

Deidara turned to face him. He even looked calm. Any other person would think there was nothing wrong with the blonde, save that he seemed a little pale, but Sasori knew better. Deidara's blue eyes were vacant, void of all emotion. They just looked at him. Sasori could sense nothing and yet everything all at once. The emptiness conveyed the blonde's feelings. Anger, shock, hurt, vengeance; they were all there, but only vaguely. No, the one thing Sasori could see was sadness. Pure sadness. He didn't know what to do.

"We should go." He finally managed to say.

"Ayane"

"What?"

"My sister, her name was Ayane, un."

Deidara quickly brushed past Sasori and began descending the cliff. Sasori followed after the blonde, shaking his head. He was sure he had seen a single tear roll down Deidara's face as the kid passed him. He was probably seeing things.

* * *

Madara Uchiha liked to think he was a practical man. And, like all practical men, when something got in his way he removed the obstacle. Obstacles in his case. With an "s."

Obito had, of course, wanted them killed right away. Obito didn't like things getting in the way just as much as the next person but always he looked to the easy way out. Obito wasn't always the sharpest knife in the drawer.

While it was true that Madara had wanted to snap the pretty little neck of the blonde, and he had come close to it too, that wasn't quite the way to handle things. Sasori, for instance, could still be useful to have around. In fact, they could make quite a use of his abilities for their purposes. Deidara was another matter. Deidara could be useful, if handled properly, but not the same way as Sasori.

Though it was a shame that Sasori hadn't "seen the light" as he had put it. It was going to make things more difficult. To be certain, he would still get what he wanted. He was Madara Uchiha; he always got what he wanted. But it would be such a waste of useful abilities once he was done with them. Ah well, things don't always go so perfectly. Sometimes, sacrifices must be made, as in the case with Nagato.

Madara blamed Obito for that incident though. Obito had let the man have his way too much and he had gotten nosy. Nagato had caught wind of Madara being alive and, though they hadn't known it at the time, he sent Sasori and Deidara to investigate. Nagato had overlooked the fact that he, Madara, might find out about this. And he had paid with his life.

Now, Obito had just wanted everyone who had known about Akatsuki gone. Wipe them all away and start fresh. Obito didn't know how long it would take to build up such an organization again. They had time, but not that much time. Madara had managed to show the fool his idiocy and had salvaged most of the others. They still did not know about their leader's death, but all in time. He just needed to deal with the other two.

"Ah, Madara, my old friend. We meet again. To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?"

"I have a proposition for you, Orochimaru."

The other man raised an eyebrow, smiling maliciously the whole time.

"I would love to listen. Please, explain the details."

Orochimaru stepped back to let Madara in. Madara would not consider Orochimaru his "friend" in any sense of the word. More like business partners. Not even that. No, simply put, he had something he needed done and Orochimaru was just the man for the job.

"It involves Akatsuki."

"Oh, still toying with _that_ idea are we? Thought you would have moved on by now."

"Hardly. I still have my goals as you do yours."

"Touché"

"Obito made a mess of things letting Nagato think he was leader. Caused us some problems. I had to be rid of him."

"Never liked the man anyways."

"Nor did I but he was useful for his time. But thanks to Obito's stupidity we almost lost Akatsuki entirely."

"Hm, definitely a setback. How are the others taking their leader's death?"

"They don't know yet. But they follow me now."

"When they find out?"

"It won't be a problem."

"Well this is all very interesting but you know I don't care much for Akatsuki since I was kicked out and unable to obtain my vessel. No hard feelings, I know that wasn't your idea, and besides, I have a new one now."

"Yes, I know. I was the one who provided you with the information."

Orochimaru's face twisted into a smirk.

"Yes indeed. And he'll be a good one too. But now let's hear this proposition you talked about."

"You remember your old partner, Akasuna no Sasori?"

Orochimaru scoffed.

"Sasori. Yes, I remember him. What of it? Did they ever find him a replacement for me?"

"They did."

"Well, who was it?"

"Nobody of much importance. A blonde child, Deidara, that's his name."

"They replaced _me_ with a _child_? I've never been so insulted."

"He was useful. At any rate, I'm having some problems with those two. I need Sasori for Akatsuki but not Deidara. He'll only get in the way. He would have been useful if Obito hadn't been stupid enough to have Nagato force him into Akatsuki using Itachi. But I no longer need him."

"So? What do you want me to do? Kill the kid and be done with it."

"No. Sasori is attached to this one. If I kill the kid he won't listen to a word I say. Then I'll never have him. No, I can't kill the kid. What I need you to do is split them up. I've already begun things myself but I can't finish this. I will have the rest of Akatsuki hunt them down but it would be best if you split them up first. Right now they're in quite a good position. They were going to give one of the hidden villages information but I took care of that. I killed the blonde's sister so they won't be telling anyone anything anytime soon. And the stage is all set for you."

"You know I enjoy messing with people; it would be fun to see Sasori squirm. I never did properly _thank_ him for being such a _loyal_ partner. But what do I get out of it all?"

"Besides your pleasure, you may have the blonde."

"Tch, why would I want him? Don't you want me to kill him?"

"You know, he has a rare form of his kekkei genkai. It would give you the chance to study a new jutsu. He's an interesting specimen."

"Kekkei genkai you say?"

"Iwa's Explosion Release."

"Ah, I've heard of it but I've never actually come across someone with the bloodline."

"This is your chance."

"Well, it would be fun to play with them a bit. And I can earn myself a new toy in the process. I believe we have ourselves a deal."

"Good. I will be leaving now. Just remember, you may toy with Sasori but you can't kill him. I need him alive. Do what you wish to the blonde."

"Don't worry, I understand perfectly. You have your toys and I have mine. Together we have quite a collection. Well, do come again Madara. It is always fun to see what you cook up."

Madara turned and left. Yes, Orochimaru would be perfect for this. Orochimaru was a sick man, but Madara did not judge. He himself would have loved to been there to see what Orochimaru would do. Sadly, he had other things to attend to. Perhaps another time.

Madara eventually found Obito. There, he told his subordinate to alert the rest of the members of Akatsuki to chase after Deidara and Sasori.

"Blame Nagato's death on them. Do whatever you must."

Obito nodded in understanding and disappeared as he warped away. Now, he had one more thing to attend to.

Madara had more than just Akatsuki. He had another group. In fact, it was the very same one that had tried to kill Sasori and Deidara. He had told them to do it. He knew the two were stronger and that the others would die. It was what he wanted. Those few had been bending some of his rules lately and he needed them killed. For now he had sent the most of them back to finish their true purpose; collecting information. They weren't good for much else but information was most definitely useful. They collected information and Akatsuki performed the dirty work. That's how it went. But he still had one left, that woman, Naoko. She was troublesome.

She followed orders, yes, she did a good job of it too but Madara felt as if she was planning something, something that involved the rest of the group. So he had sent her with Obito on that day he had tried to have Sasori kill Deidara. He wished Sasori had killed her but sadly, that had not been the case. He had to find her again; he had another mission for her this time. A mission that she wouldn't be coming back from.

* * *

Deidara lay on his back watching the night sky. He and Sasori had left Iwa now and were on the borders of the Land of Earth. He didn't know what to make of anything. He had secretly hoped that he would be able to explain everything to Ayane once he had gotten back to Iwa and maybe Sasori would have let her come with them, if she had listened. But none of that could happen now. She was gone. He blamed himself for leaving for so long and for not trying harder to get back. How long had it been now? Three years? Four? He had lost count. It didn't matter, it was too long.

He made a small bird out of clay and watched fly around a bit before detonating it and causing a shower of sparks and clay to fall over him. He sighed. His art always reminded him of his sister. It was like her in more ways than just name.

_Boom._

There was her temper. Always changing. Never one the same for too long. All at once she'd be yelling at the top of her lungs and the next instant she'd be as quiet as a kitten.

_Boom. _

There was her smile that would illuminate her face like one of his explosives against the night sky. Never lasting long – she only saved her true smiles for him.

_Boom. _

There was the way she talked. Always changing topics every five minutes. Mouth moving at sometimes a thousand words a minute and other times speaking deliberately and slow.

_Boom. _

And so short lived. Fourteen years, no more. Oh how she had loved to disagree with him, if only to laugh when his own short temper snapped. But she always agreed with him about his art. Never once, even in jest, had she ever disagreed on that matter. Because she only knew so well that life was fleeting. And now she literally lived that meaning.

Deidara rolled over on his stomach feeling bits of clay fall out of his hair as he did so. He propped his head up on his right elbow looking out at nothing in particular. He was bored of stars now and tired of thinking. He wished he would fall asleep but he just couldn't.

He cast a sideward glance towards his partner who was sleeping with his back to Deidara. Sighing, Deidara turned his gaze back forward. He didn't know what to do now. He felt like he had dug himself into a hole that was too deep to climb out of.

He muttered about stupid feelings. Maybe Sasori had a point in wanting to be rid of them all. But no, even Sasori still had them. And, without feelings he'd be just like Itachi. He shuddered. No, that would be bad. Itachi was cold. Deidara didn't like cold. Cold was lifeless, dark, hopeless. At least emotion meant life, no matter what it was.

Still, he wished he could at least kill the feelings he was having. Be indifferent to the whole matter; this pain hurt worse than the physical kind. He would have liked to figure out who did it all but what that make him feel any better? Probably not. And it wouldn't bring Ayane back either. It was probably best that remained a secret. For now at least.

He turned to lie on his back again and put his right arm behind his head. He blinked a few times, trying to think of anything but what had happened. He squeezed his left eye shut a few times and opened it again, playing with it, as if that would return its lost sight.

The blurriness from it had never completely faded. He could see out of it, but never as well as he once had. Sasori had looked at it and said it was most likely permanent though there was a chance it would go away on its own after a while. It was a blow to him. That eye was special. Ever since he lost to Itachi he had trained it to see through genjutsu. He wasn't so sure if it still worked the same now. Though it could still see far distances, he hadn't lost that, but even so it was still blurry.

He closed his eyes, trying to sleep. There was another problem. What were they going to do now? Secretly, Deidara was afraid that Sasori would say it was time to go their separate ways. It wasn't that he was worried about what he would do, he would figure something out. No, he just didn't want to be _alone_. Especially not now. He wished he could tell Sasori but the puppet master would probably think it stupid. After all, they had no obligations to each other anymore.

Deidara opened his eyes again. He just couldn't sleep. He was tired, that wasn't it. He simply couldn't manage to fall asleep. He sat up slowly and looked over at Sasori.

"Danna? You awake, un?" He whispered.

No response. He assumed Sasori was asleep. He got up and grabbed a handful of clay. He didn't take his pouches. He wouldn't need them; he was coming right back. Quietly, he slipped away from their campsite. Once far enough away he molded a tiny but powerful bomb, putting a little extra effort in the features. Why he couldn't tell, the bird would only explode, no one would see it. But he wanted to make it one of his best nonetheless. When he was done he sent it back towards Iwa.

Using his scope, he watched it detonate over the area he had once left his sister in. It flashed brilliantly across the night sky and even without his scope he could see the colors illuminating the dark from where he stood.

_Bet those idiots in the village will think they're under attack because of the noise. Oh well. Let them lose sleep over an empty threat. It would be fun to see them scrambling around right about now. _

He smirked a bit at the thought. Iwa would be all up in arms about it. Too bad he wasn't there to see it. He hurried back to the campsite. There was always the chance that Sasori had woken up and he didn't want to have to explain himself really.

Upon returning, he found his partner was still asleep. All the better for him. He sat back down in his spot. He really was tired, but he didn't want to sleep. He drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his right arm around them while resting his chin on his knees.

He felt better after what he had done, he didn't know why. Still, the old feelings remained. And they weren't all about his sister. He remembered his parents too, how their disappointed eyes would look at him and they'd shake their heads. Most everyone in the village did this anyways but his own parents? They weren't particularly cruel to him, just indifferent. He almost wished they had been cruel. It would have given him cause to hate them but he supposed he understood it slightly. Who would want a freak for a child?

Deidara's eyes snapped open. Since when had he fallen asleep? It was still dark. He looked up at the sky and could see no stars. It must be very late, or early. It didn't matter. His eyes swept around the campsite. Their fire, which had been burning in coals only a few hours ago, was now completely out. A chill wind blew through and Deidara shivered slightly. He looked to see Sasori still sleeping.

He closed his eyes again and leaned back, trying to sleep but had no luck. Sighing, he stretched himself out and got up. It would be light in only a couple hours anyways. He should find more fuel and maybe food. Sasori would be happier if he saw the blonde all set to go when he woke up. It would be less time the puppet master would have to wait.

Silently, Deidara left, once again only taking a bit of his clay with him. He walked for a few minutes before he found a place that seemed to have some good firewood and he started to collect it. Then, he stopped. There was someone around and it wasn't Sasori. Surreptitiously, he glanced behind himself but saw no one. He narrowed his eyes but still continued casually collecting his firewood. Straightening up, he finished his job and began walking back to the campsite normally. Suddenly, he stopped again and dropped his load.

"Alright, listen up, whoever you are. I'm not in a particularly good mood right now so it would be best to show yourself before I blow your head off which I _might_ end up doing anyways unless you give me a very good reason not to, un!"

"My, my, temper, temper. Though I might actually like to see you try and blow my head off. It would be rather amusing."

A voice spoke. Deidara looked around and detected the area from where the sound was coming. He tossed a kunai in that direction. He hadn't brought a lot of clay and didn't want to waste it all unless he knew he had a sure shot.

"Well, that didn't seem like much of anything."

A man stepped out from behind a tree. Deidara had never seen him before. He was taller than Deidara and his skin seemed very pale, even in the dark. His hair was long and black and his face held a malicious smirk. Deidara immediately wished he had brought more clay. Isn't this what Sasori was always warning him about? Being unprepared? But that didn't help him now. He narrowed his eyes.

"Who are you, un?"

"Ah, you don't know me, but you should. Where is Sasori?"

"What do you want with Sasori-danna, un?"

"Aw, you call him 'danna.' How sweet."

This man was really beginning to infuriate Deidara. He took a bit of the clay he had and made a couple quick bombs which he promptly sent the other's way. When the dust settled, he was no longer there but Deidara had known the man moved. He blocked the kunai thrown at him from behind and turned around.

"Well you have skill. And I must add that you have quite an _interesting_ ability. I've never seen anything quite like it."

The man sounded all too happy.

"Who are you and what do you want, un?"

"Although I must admit I am a _little_ disappointed to see that you're the one they replaced me with. You're even younger than I thought you'd be. What are you, fifteen?" The man ignored Deidara.

_Wait a minute, replaced? Don't tell me…_

So this must be Orochimaru then, Sasori's old partner. Sasori never talked about him much. In fact, Sasori never talked about him at all. Deidara had asked once and only received a death threat. But he knew from some of the other Akatsuki that Orochimaru had been Sasori's partner before him.

"I'm not that young, un." Deidara snarled back.

"Hm, my mistake. I must say, looks are deceiving. But why don't you show me those hands of yours."

Did Orochimaru take him for a fool? He must have. The man actually managed to grab Deidara's wrist but Deidara quickly snatched it away before sending a quick elbow strike to Orochimaru's head and leaping back into a nearby tree, readying another explosive.

"Fast little thing, aren't you?" Orochimaru remarked. "It would seem you're stronger than you look."

Even as Orochimaru was still talking, Deidara had managed to make an explosive and send it towards Orochimaru making it go behind the man so he wouldn't see. Now, he detonated it which sent Orochimaru flying. Deidara jumped down and stood a few yards away from Orochimaru who was on the ground now.

"Yeah, I'm fast and dangerous. Don't underestimate me, un." He smirked.

Orochimaru laughed. Suddenly, Deidara saw a bunch of snakes rushing towards him and before he could even think he was being held tightly against a tree by the taller man.

"Well, Madara was right. You _are _an interesting specimen. I'll have my fun with you. But first I need you to give a message to Sasori."

He pulled out a small bottle. Deidara narrowed his eyes. Orochimaru uncorked it and smirked. Deidara could see the bottle was filled to the brim with an odd colored odorless sort of liquid.

"Now," Orochimaru took a step forward. "Don't make this difficult, alright? Because I'll force it into you if I have to."

"Just try, un"

Deidara growled and clenched his teeth. He didn't know what kind of game this was but he wasn't taking part in it. Orochimaru sighed and Deidara felt his head yanked backwards and mouth forced open as Orochimaru poured the liquid down his throat. Deidara coughed and tried to spit it up.

"Oh, it's no use. But don't worry, it won't hurt you. Not all at once anyways. Just give this to Sasori when you get to him. He'll know what it means."

He tucked the empty bottle into Deidara's pocket. Deidara glared at the man and managed to knee him in the gut. Deidara felt the snakes releasing their hold as he pushed himself off the tree.

"Feisty, are we?"

Orochimaru stuttered a bit. Deidara's blow had been hard. Deidara began using the last of his clay to make another bomb in hopes of being rid of the man once and for all and forever. He molded with his right hand as quickly as possible and used as high a level of chakra as he could allow. Within seconds he had it thrown towards the man and detonated it, hoping back to be out of range of the blast. When the dust settled Orochimaru was nowhere in sight but Deidara could have sworn he heard malicious laughter in the distance.

Cursing under his breath he rubbed his bandaged arm a bit before bending down to pick up his wood again. It was a little sore now from being pressed against his body for a few minutes but otherwise fine. He quickly ran back to the campsite. Sasori seemed to still be asleep. Deidara contemplated waking him up but decided against it and instead re-made their fire. Soon, it was blazing again and Deidara sat in front of it thinking about what just happened. He really didn't get what Orochimaru was doing there. But no matter. He would tell Sasori when the puppet master woke up.

Two hours later it began getting light. Deidara had fallen into a sort of trance watching the fire, his breakfast only half finished beside him. He wasn't really all that hungry. Somewhere in the background, he heard Sasori get up. He thought he heard Sasori say something but he didn't really care to listen. He was simply content to watch the flames.

All of a sudden, there was a hand waving in front of his face. Deidara sat back a bit and turned his head to face his partner.

"Did you hear me?"

"No"

"Hm, never mind it. Are you tired? You look like you didn't get any sleep at all."

"I'm fine, un."

Deidara turned his focus back towards the fire. Wasn't he forgetting something?

"You didn't finish your food." Sasori stated. He must have noticed the uneaten portion left on Deidara's plate.

"Not hungry, un."

Sasori stood behind Deidara as if he wanted to say something else but didn't know what it was.

"I saw Orochimaru, un." He stated calmly. Yes, that's what he was forgetting.

"_What_?"

Sasori sounded slightly angry.

"Are you sure? What did he tell you?"

"I don't know. He said he was your partner in Akatsuki. He seemed to know you anyways. He said to give this you, something about a message, un."

Deidara handed Sasori the empty bottle. Sasori looked like he might crack the bottle in two by the way he was holding it. Deidara was surprised the thing actually didn't break.

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know. I threw some bombs at him but I think he ran off, un."

Suddenly, Sasori grabbed Deidara by the shoulders.

"Look at me!" He commanded when Deidara's gaze wandered elsewhere.

Shocked by the sudden change in tone, Deidara looked into his partner's eyes.

"Shit!" Sasori cursed.

Deidara honestly didn't understand what was going on. Sasori released his partner a moment later. Deidara turned his attention back towards the fire.

"You don't even care…" Sasori muttered.

"Why should I? He just left anyways, un."

"Damnit Deidara! This isn't a game! He-"

Sasori paused as if remembering something then took a deep breath. Deidara only stared at his partner.

"He didn't say anything else to you, did he?" Sasori asked in a calmer tone.

Deidara wrinkled his nose.

"He said something about my abilities, but that was it, un."

"Of course…"

Sasori closed his eyes a moment. On opening them, he reached forward to gently tilt the blonde's head back slightly and open his mouth. Eventually, he moved his hand mumbling something and Deidara closed his mouth.

"What, un?"

"Orochimaru and his tricks. That's what. He made you drink it, didn't he?"

Deidara nodded slowly.

"Figures. Look, just take it easy, alright? No flying. And _if_ we run into any enemies just leave them to me if you can."

Now Deidara was slightly scared.

"Why? What did he do to me, un?"

"Well…" Sasori began slowly, "It could be nothing. Just a message to me, really. But that's probably not the case considering this is _Orochimaru_ we're talking about. Damnit, who am I kidding, I _know_ that's not the case."

"Then…what…"

"He gave you a damn psych drug. A fairly decent amount too…the bastard." Sasori growled. "Look, your thoughts might get a bit, confused. And you might act differently. But if you feel dizzy, nauseous, lightheaded, or just _funny_, let me know. We clear on that?"

Deidara nodded quickly.

"Yeah."

"Good."

"Um, what was the message about, un?"

"Ugh, it's a warning really. I don't feel like explaining it all to you but all he means is that he's out to get us."

"Oh…"

Deidara blinked a few times not completely understanding but accepting the answer anyways.

"So…now we need to decide where to go." Sasori stated.

Deidara had turned his attention back to the fire. He found it intriguing for whatever reason.

"What are we supposed to do, un?" He asked quietly.

Sasori sat next to the blonde.

"I don't know."

Deidara's thoughts jumped elsewhere.

"They're all dead…" He thought aloud.

"Hm?"

"I'm an idiot, un."

"Deidara…" Sasori started.

"Shut up! You don't know!" He suddenly shouted, he didn't know why.

He shouldn't be shouting at Sasori, the puppet master hadn't done anything to him. He pulled his knees to his chest.

"…Sorry…un…"

"It's fine."

"I thought there'd be something left. She died hating me, un." He began drawing with his finger in the dirt.

"I don't think she-"

"She did! They all did! None of them ever cared! I should have died. My parents liked her better anyways! Everyone would have been happier!"

Deidara suddenly threw a bomb, he didn't know where he got it, in front of him and it exploded.

"Damn them all! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?" He shouted in the direction of Iwa. "ARE YOU DONE? ARE YOU GOING TO LEAVE ME ALONE NOW? OR WILL YOU STILL FIND OTHER THINGS TO DO? I DON'T CARE ANYMORE! I-I…I don't care…un…" His voice faltered.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Sasori. Right, Sasori was still there. And he had seen everything. Deidara felt embarrassed. He shrugged Sasori's arm off of him and quickly got up and started walking away.

"Deidara!"

Deidara stopped. Sasori was next to him in an instant, dragging him back towards the fire. He made Deidara sit down and did the same once the blonde was on the ground. He put his hand back on Deidara's shoulder.

"We'll forget about them for now, alright?" He said in a low voice. "Look, how does this sound? We'll leave here and go somewhere far enough away from the five nations. We'll find a small village that doesn't know much about our world, one that doesn't know us by face or name. And we'll just live there. I'm sure even small villages could use some good ninja; hell, smaller villages are probably more in need of ninja since they generally don't have many if any at all. Maybe, we can eventually come back around these parts. But at least it's something to do until then."

Deidara nodded slowly. Sasori's hand had slipped behind the blonde now and was rubbing and patting him on the back.

"Are you going to be alright?"

Deidara took in a shaky breath.

"Eventually…un…"

He managed a small smile and turned to face Sasori.

"Eventually…thank you danna, un."

Sasori searched the blonde's eyes for a minute.

"Just don't do anything stupid, that's all I'm asking."

Deidara laughed lightly. He had to. Sasori's face quirked into a smile before he gave the blonde one final pat on the shoulder and got up.

"Well, let's go then."

* * *

**A/N: wtf? Orochimaru? I had to. I just had to. The opportunity presented itself and I had to xD**

**Also, this is pretty much the extend of Deidara's past that I'll be putting in this fic. Fill in any blanks with whatever your imagination comes up with but that's pretty much it. **

**Ayane - I wasn't going to give Deidara any siblings originally but I thought it fit the story. She probably won't be talked about much outside of this chapter and maybe the next one; I just don't like putting OCs on the same level as canon characters. But she's important to the fic. Now, I normally say don't look for any meanings in the OC names because I use a random name generator. But Ayane's name actually has a purpose; it literally means "colorful sound." And what does Deidara love? Explosions! What are explosions? Colorful sound! I thought it was VERY fitting for the story. Funny how this was the first name I got when I used the random name generator...I knew it was meant to be! 8D**

**Well, hope you enjoyed! Thanks to everyone who supports this fic! It means a lot to me! And please leave a review! They make me sooooo happy!**


	12. Caught?

**A/N: I'M NOT DEAD! I JUST MADE YOU THINK THAT SO THAT I CAN LAUGH AND SAY THAT I'M NOT DEAD! **

**Ok, no, seriously? Just, shit happens. :P Or life does. Either way, I'm really sorry about the lateness of this chapter! (3 months...ho boy...) Don't hate meee! D: **dodges rotten fruit****

**Deidara: You were just being a lazy-ass the whole time -.\/"  
Me: SHADDUP! **hits over head with a giant text book**  
Deidara: But it's true, un  
Me: THEN YOU TRY WRITING THIS STUFF!  
Deidara: I bet it would come out better, un  
Me: SHADDUP! **waves book around again**  
Deidara: **dodges book and sticks out tongue**  
Sasori: **eyeroll** Kids -.-  
Me: **Chasing Deidara with book** COME BACK HERE!  
Deidara: Nya nya!  
Sasori: Will somebody do the disclaimer?  
Deidara: MIDNIGHT DOESN'T OWN US! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  
Me: GET BACK HERE YOU! **rage face**  
Sasori: -.- Just shut up and enjoy the chapter. **

* * *

_**Mission Impossible**_

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Caught?**

* * *

Sasori cast a surreptitious glance back towards his younger partner. Deidara hadn't said a word since they had set out earlier that morning which was strangely uncharacteristic for the blonde. Sasori figured Deidara could just be lost in thought. Still, it was very unusual for him to go so long without saying _anything_. Normally, Sasori enjoyed the silence; he was often wishing the blonde would just shut up, but, this just didn't feel right. No, right now the blonde should be talking his jaw off while Sasori mumbled about annoying brats.

He would have asked Deidara if there was something wrong but he already knew the answer to that question. He wasn't sure what to do about it. What could he do? They would travel west until they were far from the borders of the Land of Earth before finding a smaller village where they could live in peace. What more could he do? Nothing, the answer was nothing and it was driving him mad. For reasons unbeknownst to him, he wished he could help his partner more, but he just couldn't.

"Danna?" Deidara suddenly spoke up, quietly.

"Yes?"

"Do you think Orochimaru will be following us, un?"

Ah, Orochimaru. Honestly, he had quite forgotten about the incident with his former partner until Deidara had brought it up. This could potentially be a problem.

"Probably, just keep an eye out for him."

Sasori waited to hear some sort of comment or remark from the blonde but received none.

_Why do I hate this silence so much? I finally get him to shut up and now I want him talking. This is illogical. _

They travelled on for a few more hours in this way. Neither of the S-class shinobi made anymore attempts towards conversation. Sasori would have except he really didn't know what to say. That was always Deidara's job, asking the questions and bringing up topics. If the blonde didn't say anything, Sasori didn't either unless he had something to tell his partner.

Suddenly, Sasori stopped. He could sense some other ninja in the area.

"Deidara" he called to his young partner, wanting to know if the blonde sensed the others too, but there was no response. Thinking the blonde must not have heard him he turned around to see that Deidara was nowhere in sight.

"Deidara?" His eyes scanned the mountainous surroundings but saw no sign of the blonde.

"Brat! We don't have time for this!"

Something told him Deidara just wasn't in the area. He cursed silently under his breath. This was not a good thing to say in the least.

He felt two ninja land behind him. He knew these shinobi.

"What do you two want?" He asked, turning to face none other than Itachi and Kisame.

"Where is Deidara?" Itachi spoke in a monotone voice.

"Why don't you tell me?" Sasori answered, narrowing his eyes a bit. What could they possibly want?

Itachi blinked once before saying, "It doesn't matter right now. We need you to come with us."

"And why would that be?"

"For Akatsuki"

_Not this again._

"Tell Madara that no means no. I have not changed my mind."

"Oh come on Sasori, don't be like that. You know Akatsuki has benefits." Kisame tried to reason.

"You do know who killed leader-sama, don't you?"

"He betrayed Akatsuki, nobody killed him!"

Sasori stared blankly at the duo. Surely they didn't believe any of that spiel? Maybe Kisame, but he certainly couldn't see Itachi believing something like that.

_Whatever. Let them think what they will. It's not like I'm going to change their opinion._

"Whatever. I still have not changed my mind."

"Why?" Itachi questioned.

"That's really none of your business."

"The benefits far outweigh the disadvantages."

"I said I'm not interested."

"Let's just drag him away already Itachi."

_So that's how it's going to be then, huh?_

Sasori was suddenly reminded of the day they had recruited his blonde partner. He remembered thinking how stupid Deidara had been to not just come with them all at once instead of trying to fight and run away. He remembered thinking how he would _never_ put himself in the same position and yet, here he was. How ironic. Now he could better understand how his partner had felt that day.

"I'm not going anywhere." He stated, taking up a fighting stance.

Kisame pointed his sword towards Sasori.

"Hate to say this then, but we're going to have to take you out."

Before Sasori could think of a proper response Kisame shot out at him, forcing him to pull out a scroll at random to defend himself.

_Alright brat, wherever you ran off to, it would be __**really**__ helpful if you could get your ass over here now and HELP ME WITH THESE DAMN BASTARDS! _

Sasori whipped out a few more scrolls, fingers moving like lightning as he dodged then countered Kisame's blows. He wasn't all too worried about the shark-nin. Kisame was manageable so long as Sasori remembered to keep him at a few arms' length. The problem was Itachi.

The Uchiha favored fighting at longer ranges and his Sharingan was a definite problem. Sasori knew he could avoid the deadly Tsukyomi by averting his gaze from Itachi's eyes, but he also knew that Itachi had quite a few other jutsu up his sleeve.

Of course, he himself only had one weakness. Still, he was quite sure Itachi knew what it was and just because there was only one way to kill him didn't mean he couldn't be worn down. Considering that Itachi and Kisame only wanted to take him with them, he probably didn't have to worry about dying. This wasn't going to be easy. Where was the brat?

Kisame jumped in for another attack while Sasori jumped back and thrust his puppet forward, making a swiping motion at the other ninja. Sasori thought he saw his blade make contact and this was confirmed a moment later when Kisame jumped back in slight surprise at Sasori's ability to land a blow. However, Sasori knew it wouldn't do much. Though a slash like that might kill a normal ninja, Kisame had quite a large amount of stamina as well as high chakra reserves. It would be nothing more than a mere scratch to him. Still, it bought Sasori some time to ready another attack, putting him on the offensive and thus giving himself the advantage.

Yet, there was still Itachi. The whole time, the Uchiha had simply been observing the clash of the two ninja in front of him. Now, Sasori barely sensed the raven moving behind him and just nearly missed being burned to a crisp by one of Itachi's fire style jutsu. He turned, getting a quick glance at the Uchiha, but making sure he did not look into the eyes that he knew were swirling with the crimson red of the Sharingan.

Sasori's momentary distraction with Itachi allowed for Kisame to get in a bit closer, swinging his sword dangerously close to the puppet master. Sasori ducked, knowing that the chakra-devouring sword was not an object to be taken lightly. No sooner had he done this, however, when Itachi sent another fire jutsu his way. Dodging the attacks from both ninja, Sasori quickly maneuvered his puppets forcing the two Akatsuki back a bit. Sasori scowled. He knew he could hold out for a bit against these two, but the combined force of the team would just be too much to handle. He was fighting a losing battle. Where the hell was Deidara? At least then the odds would be evened out. And Deidara could fly; get out of both of their ranges and just attack if he so desired.

Both Itachi and Kisame suddenly came at Sasori in a movement to perform a combined attack on him. Sasori braced himself and readied his puppets. This was going to be a long battle.

* * *

Deidara walked with his eyes cast downward most of the time. Truth be told, he didn't really _want_ to be going anywhere at the moment. But he followed Sasori more or less because he didn't want the puppet master to think him weak and besides, Sasori was probably right; he generally was.

He couldn't help but sneak a few wistful glances back towards Iwa every now and again. He wondered what Ayane had really thought of him, if she still hated him when she died or if she had forgiven him for that. Had she ever received any of his letters? Or had they never reached her? Or had she gotten them only to destroy them the moment they arrived? If she had read them at all, did it even matter? Had she cared? Or had she simply just rolled her eyes, thinking that he wasn't sincere?

Did she even think about him after she left or had she erased him from her memory? Had she even cared about him after that? Or had she stopped caring altogether and just completely hated him? Had she been happy to be in Iwa? Did she have friends? Did anyone else care for her? He didn't know. He didn't know any of it and he never would.

He didn't want to reflect on any of this anymore, it was making his head hurt, yet he still did. He wanted to forget and at the same time he didn't. He felt guilty. He knew it was his fault. Who else's could it be? If only he had died like everyone had wanted then none of this would have happened. But how was he supposed to know? It wasn't like he wanted it to happen, and yet it did.

Some part of his mind, a very small part, told him he needed to stop blaming himself. That it was nothing he did that caused Ayane's death and there wasn't really anything he could have done to prevent it. He wanted to believe that part of his mind. It would have lessened the guilt and the pain if only a bit. He wanted to believe it and yet somehow, he couldn't. The feelings of guilt far overwhelmed the logical part of his brain.

Deidara closed his eyes for a moment, wishing it all away. It was a dream, he told himself, a horrible dream. He would wake up any minute now with Sasori scowling at him for waking up late. This whole mission; none of it had happened. It was all a very bad nightmare.

But it wasn't.

He knew it wasn't. Logically, he knew it wasn't. That didn't stop him from hoping the logical part of himself would go to hell. Screw logic.

Slowly, he opened his eyes again and realized he had actually stopped walking when he closed them; he had been so lost in thought. He looked ahead for Sasori but couldn't see the puppet master. In fact, he didn't even sense Sasori's chakra in the immediate vicinity. Surely he couldn't have let his mind wander off so much that he lost his way and his partner, could he have?

"Danna?" He called out, hoping that he may have just missed something and that Sasori was really right in front of him the whole time. But he received no answer.

"Danna? Sasori no danna?"

Still no answer.

"Danna? Are you around, un?" He already knew the answer to this question, but he asked it anyways. Sasori wasn't around, he could tell. Obviously, this was a problem.

He sincerely hoped Sasori hadn't changed his mind and just left him. It was strange but though he often thought he would be better off doing things his own way, he really didn't want to be left alone. Especially not now.

He shook those thoughts out of his head. Sasori probably didn't notice his absence yet. After all, he had been so quiet the whole time that maybe Sasori had assumed the blonde was still walking behind him. Well, no matter. He could find Sasori easily enough. He couldn't be _that_ far behind and he knew this country well enough. Yes, it wasn't a matter worth worrying over.

With those thoughts in mind, Deidara started off to find his older partner when he sensed a presence in the vicinity. Noting that it wasn't Sasori, he quickly masked his own chakra and cautiously glanced around the periphery, snaking his hand down to the pouch on his hip. He saw nothing but kept on his guard as he began looking for Sasori. Sure enough, whoever it was, followed.

_Just perfect. It's probably only an assassin or some sort of patrol. Still, that Orochimaru character showed up earlier, why not now? At least there's only one of them. That I know for certain. _

Deidara continued on his way but noticed the other chakra signature coming closer and closer. All at once he turned and caught a senbon between his fingers and tossed a bomb in the same direction the weapon had come from. Once the smoke had cleared he found himself face to face with, once again, Sasori's old partner, Orochimaru. He sighed.

_Why do __**I**__ always attract the random freaks and psychos? Ugh…_

"Why hello Dei-chan, fancy seeing you here again" Orochimaru grinned wickedly.

Deidara glared in response.

"Oh, not so happy to see me, are you? Too bad, I'm looking forward to this."

"Back off, un." Deidara wasn't in the mood for playing games with this man.

"Come now, why would I do a thing like that? I still have my prize to claim."

"Forget it, un"

"Such a disagreeable child. I don't see how Sasori puts up with you. Oh wait, he doesn't, he doesn't care about you at all." Orochimaru laughed airily, but there was nothing pleasant about it. His tone held obvious malice.

Deidara felt himself tensing a bit.

_Calm down. Let him rile you up and you're playing right into his hand. Keep. Calm. Deidara._

"You don't know what you're talking about, un." Deidara said simply.

"Hm, I don't, don't I? Then where is your precious 'danna' now? Hm?"

"I just lost myself is all…" Deidara mumbled.

"Lost? Or left behind?"

"Shut up! Danna wouldn't leave me behind, un."

"How do you know that?"

He didn't know. But Sasori had said they were friends; that had to count for something, right? Or had Sasori only wanted to convince him for that moment? Though, what reason would the puppet master have for doing something like that? Then again, did he need a reason? Why should Sasori be any different from anyone else he had ever known? Everyone else had left him alone but he had trusted Sasori. Was that a mistake?

"Danna wouldn't do that…un…" He felt his voice wavering a slight bit. Deep down he thought he knew that Sasori would never do something like that to him. Yet, with everything that had transpired over the past week or so he just couldn't think straight. He was beginning to have doubts and Orochimaru latched onto this like paper to glue.

"You don't know that. What happened with Madara?"

"He didn't mean that…he's sorry. He told me, un."

"And you believed him?"

"Why shouldn't I, un?" Deidara felt like he should be angry but he couldn't seem to find the strength to be. He felt tired, worn down, sick of the same old games and much older than his seventeen years.

"The better question is, why should you? Even your own sister betrayed you; why would someone like _Sasori_ even show an inkling of care for _you_? If you want to argue over recent events, don't think that he didn't have anything to gain from all that. No, the only reason he kept you alive was me. Ah yes, don't look so dumbfounded. Of course he kept in contact with me after I left Akatsuki. I was his partner for a long while after all; I know him better than you. But come, are you really all that surprised? Why should he be concerned for you? You were only my replacement to him, half his age, annoying and weak. No, he doesn't care, he doesn't care about you, Deidara."

Part of Deidara just knew that Orochimaru was lying about the whole thing. The other part of him believed Orochimaru quite strongly and that part seemed the stronger. He just had so many doubts and Orochimaru was only echoing them. Still, he did not want to believe it.

"S-shut up" He said, his voice quaking with rage. "Danna wouldn't do that. H-he wouldn't, I know it, un."

But even he could hear the doubt in his own voice.

"Well no one can ever accuse you of being disloyal. You defend him even when all the facts are clearly laid out in front of you. But no matter. This talk is beginning to bore me. So, are you going to be a good child and come with me now or am I going to have to make you come?"

Almost instantaneously, Deidara sent a volley of explosives towards the snake sannin in answer and the explosives kept coming. He wasn't angry per se but one thing was for certain. He wanted Orochimaru gone and he wanted it now. He didn't like the man at all.

Orochimaru dodged the explosives and tried to use his shadow snakes to pin the blonde down as he had done the first time, but Deidara was expecting this. He dodged and molded a quick bird, escaping to the sky and sending down explosive after explosive towards Orochimaru.

They carried on in this way for about five minutes before Deidara, growing tired of the situation, packed some extra chakra into a fast moving bomb and swooped in, hitting Orochimaru at full force with the explosive. Orochimaru was sent flying backwards and slammed into a tree, landing on the ground battered and bloodied from multiple wounds. He glared up at Deidara, then, suddenly smirked.

"Very impressive. I'll let you say you won this one, Dei-chan. And just remember, Sasori doesn't care."

In a flash, he was gone, leaving Deidara on his bird staring at the spot Orochimaru had been in.

_Damn him to hell. Sasori didn't leave me…he said he wouldn't. He's probably just sitting right up ahead, waiting for me. In fact, I've probably pissed him off at making him wait so long. Orochimaru is…a crazy idiot. He's just…lying…really…_

Deidara shook the thoughts out of his head, willing his mind to focus only on finding his partner. Sasori would be right up ahead. He wouldn't leave the blonde, he said so.

_No, he said he wouldn't let you die. That doesn't mean he won't leave you. He could have just been keeping you alive for Orochimaru…like Orochimaru said._

Sasori had called them friends, right? Or had he only been playing his cards carefully?

_Of course he would say that. He needed an excuse and he wouldn't tell you the real reason, now would he?_

It was times like this where Deidara wished he could he turn his mind off. He was thinking about the whole matter too much, reading far too into it. But the same questions and doubts remained, especially now that Orochimaru had brought them up. He shook his head. He would only concentrate on finding his partner now. He just lost himself; that was all. Sasori would be waiting.

* * *

Sasori dodged a swipe from Kisame's sword and sent a puppet towards Itachi who had been encroaching from behind. He still wondered where on earth his partner could have wandered off to, especially at a time like this. The thought crossed his mind that perhaps Deidara had gotten engaged in battle too. Orochimaru had shown up once. Had he come again?

The thought angered Sasori that his partner could be battling the slimy bastard at that very moment. Didn't Orochimaru have enough fun with his little "experiments" without having to drag his partner along too? Sasori figured that there may have been someone behind Orochimaru's appearance. Twisted though he may be, Orochimaru never did anything without a purpose. And the snake had so conveniently shown up right after they had gotten away from Madara and right after the incident in Iwa. Sasori found it all very suspicious.

He slammed a puppet with more force towards Kisame than necessary. Now he just wanted to find the blonde as soon as possible. He knew what Orochimaru was capable of and though he wasn't completely certain that Deidara was being detained by the man, he didn't want to take any chances. He knew what Orochimaru did and he knew what Orochimaru had come for. But he would not get it so long as Sasori had something to say about it.

"Danna!"

Sasori immediately swung his head around, feelings of both relief and anger sweeping over him at the call. Itachi and Kisame stopped too for a moment, looking over the newcomer. Deidara seemed to have taken in the situation immediately as he readied himself for a fight, sending an especially nasty glare towards Itachi. Before anyone could say or do anything, however, Deidara's eyes widened a bit as his body went limp and he fell to the ground.

Sasori stood, totally shocked for a moment before what happened actually registered in his mind. He noticed the presences of Itachi and Kisame disappearing in the background but only barely. He began to take a step forward when he heard some sinister laughter.

"Well, well Sasori, we meet again." Orochimaru stepped out of the shadows, an evil smirk playing on his face.

"Orochimaru" the name rolled of his tongue in anger, laced with as much poison as one of his special senbon.

"Well, I _am_ glad to see that you haven't entirely forgotten me, my old comrade."

Orochimaru smiled in a charming yet sinister way. Sasori knew this face, he knew this game, he knew what was being played. He knew it all too well. He had spent too much time with the man when they had been partnered in Akatsuki.

"Why don't you go crawl back into the slimy little hole you came from and leave me alone?"

"Certainly, if that's what you want. I only thought you might be interested in a little deal I have to offer. But if you don't want to hear it then there's nothing _I_ can really do to change your mind. I'll just take my prize and go; I've done my job."

Orochimaru's voice was smooth and calm, yet Sasori knew the whole thing was a hoax. He knew Orochimaru. He knew what the snake was talking about.

"Leave. Deidara. Alone." He hissed darkly.

"Or?"

"Or I will personally make sure your death is a slow and painful one."

Orochimaru laughed airily.

"That's certainly a _lovely_ way to treat your former partner. But what's it to you anyways? Last I checked, this child has nothing to do with you. Other than, of course, the obvious fact that he _was_ my replacement in Akatsuki. Was. You're not in Akatsuki anymore though. You're not bound to him Sasori. What could you possibly want from him anyways? Why do you care? You can't feel emotions in your state; you've said so yourself. Why does it bother you so much? He's not your family. And he doesn't understand you one bit. He's an ignorant boy that serves no purpose to you or to anyone as a matter of fact. It's much better if I just take him myself."

"Go to hell" Sasori spat.

Orochimaru laughed again.

"I don't really have time for such things." He walked towards the collapsed blonde and bent down. Sasori felt himself tensing, readying for an attack. "Come now Sasori" Orochimaru began, his back to the Akasuna, "In the past you would have supported me. What _has_ changed in you?"

"Don't you dare touch him or I'll kill you."

"Yes, yes, you've said that before." Orochimaru said waving his hand in the air and standing to turn to face Sasori. "But, if you really want me to leave him alone, then maybe you want to listen to my proposition."

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Orochimaru smirked like he had just won a great victory.

"Let's see, well, a certain _friend_ of mine asked for a little favor. I believe you've met him? Uchiha Madara? Ring any bells? Well, let's say he wasn't too happy at your refusal. My proposition is simple: you perform whatever tasks he wants and I won't lay a finger on the child. However, you should know, the fate of that brat is contingent on your obedience. Overstep the boundaries even once and…" Orochimaru pulled out a kunai and began to idly flip it around, "I can't promise the little brat will come back unharmed."

Sasori glared at his former partner, mind racing. Well, the answer seemed obvious; do what Madara wanted then they could be on their merry way. But, knowing Orochimaru, there must be a catch. Just what it could be was what Sasori needed to figure out, and fast.

"Oh, and one more thing, you can't tell your little friend what you're going to be doing. That is, you are simply to tell him you changed your mind about Madara's offer. That is all. So no, you can't take him with you. But don't worry; he'll be in extremely good hands."

There it was. Of course he couldn't do that. He couldn't trust this man nor could he trust Madara Uchiha, of all people. In such a case, there was only one option. He was going to have to fight with Orochimaru.

Quickly, he pulled out a puppet scroll and slammed Orochimaru back into one of the trees with his weapon. Noting the impact of the blow and calculating the time it would take the snake to recover, he rushed towards where Deidara had collapsed and gently lifted the blonde's head off the ground. A short sense of relief shot through him when he realized his partner didn't seem to be seriously injured. Still, he was wary. He didn't put it past Orochimaru to do something sneakily sinister.

Hearing Orochimaru curse and begin to get up, he hastily moved Deidara out of the way before turning back to Orochimaru.

"You've just made a mistake, Sasori, and you're going to regret it." Orochimaru hissed, wiping blood from his mouth. Sasori said nothing more but simply pulled out another scroll and readied himself for any attack.

Orochimaru pulled out a sword and rushed to attack Sasori who simply threw him back with even more force. A thought crossed the Akasuna's mind; he could probably get away now. In fact, that might be the best idea. He had caught Orochimaru off guard twice; it wouldn't happen again. And, Sasori knew the sannin was at the very least matched in power to him if not stronger. The battle would be long, drawn out, and Sasori really wasn't sure who would win this one. There was also the chance that Itachi and Kisame could come back and that would be a bad thing. Now that he knew all three were working for Madara they could potentially team up against him. He might be able to hold them off for a while, but it would be difficult, especially when Deidara could be no help.

Weighing all these things in his mind, he quickly made his decision and jumped back to lightly scoop up his unconscious partner before taking off. He thought he heard Orochimaru shout something at him, but he didn't care to listen. He knew he was faster than the snake and he had a head start. He should get away. Yet, he ran for a good while before confirming that Orochimaru wasn't following them and stopping.

Deidara still had yet to wake up, and it almost worried Sasori. Physically, the blonde was fine, as far as he could tell, but his younger partner hadn't even stirred the whole time. He nudged the blonde's shoulder to try and wake him up but to no avail. The only logical conclusion he could draw from this was that Orochimaru had come up with some new drug or something. Then, it hit him. The drug Orochimaru had made his partner drink must have some sort of reaction with whatever was on the senbon. How terribly _clever_ of the snake bastard; it seemed the man had all his ducks in a row.

_Speak of the devil…_

Sasori whipped around as he felt Orochimaru's presence once again.

"Thought you lost me, eh Sasori? You should know better. I never give up my prize."

Sasori readied a puppet for an attack but stopped when he saw that Orochimaru had somehow managed to get his hands on Deidara.

_How the hell did he…?_

"Surprised? You shouldn't be. I have my tricks Sasori."

"Put him down." Sasori growled.

"Why? Why do you care so much about this brat? He's not your family and you're not bound to him. Besides, you failed to accept my proposal earlier and I don't like giving second chances."

Orochimaru had a point. Why did he care so much about the kid? Sasori struggled to come up with a reason. There was only one logical explanation to this. Who would have ever thought that he, Akasuna no Sasori would say something like this? But fate just has a way with things.

"Maybe he is my family now. So, I'll say it once more. Put. Him. Down. _Now_."

"Well, well, the emotionless bastard has _feelings_. I am shocked, Sasori. And you _must_ be desperate to consider this _child_ as a part of your _family._" Orochimaru snorted. "But, who am I to judge? And what do I care? All in all, I'm still not releasing him to you." The snake sannin laughed sadistically.

Sasori sent a puppet towards Orochimaru who only dodged.

"Ooh, I wouldn't do that if I were you. I do still have your little blonde partner here; I could snap his pretty little neck right now if I wished. I hardly think _you're_ in any position to make demands."

Sasori growled. He highly doubted Orochimaru would actually do that, considering the snake's line of work was _research_. Like the man had said, he wouldn't give up his prize so easily. Yet, at the same time, he knew Orochimaru could still get something out of his research if the blonde was dead and, though he knew the sannin would rather not kill Deidara, he probably wouldn't hesitate to do so if he had to.

But then, what could he do? He couldn't let Orochimaru get away, that was for certain. He needed to think of something to get the bastard away from the blonde. The question was, how? Orochimaru smirked, obviously enjoying the situation.

"Well I see you're in quite a predicament, Sasori."

Sasori glared at his former partner. He had to think quickly but nothing was coming to mind. What he wanted to do was go and whack Orochimaru over the head a few times, then beat him within inches of his life, the poison him. Or something. But he couldn't do that if he wanted his partner back alive.

"We meet again, Sasori."

The puppet master whirled around to see none other than Madara standing behind him.

_Him too? What could he possibly want?_

"You seem to be having troubles; funny how I could make them all just, disappear."

"What the hell do you want?"

"Oh come now, you already know the answer to that question. But consider this for a moment. Right now, the only thing keeping that kid untouched by your former partner is me. Agree to work with me and we can have things stay that way. Decline and I'm afraid you're on your own again."

Sasori sucked in a breath. He couldn't trust these two, he knew he couldn't. But he didn't have much of a choice. If he declined, who knows what Orochimaru would do to his partner? There was only one answer.

"Fine" he mumbled "but how do I know you'll keep your word?"

Madara smirked.

"Do you have that little faith in me? You can't know for certain but you know it's your only choice. Don't worry, you'll have your precious partner back when you're all done. For now he stays with us until you finish. So if I were you…" Madara was suddenly beside Sasori as he whispered in the puppet master's ear, "I wouldn't mess up."

* * *

Deidara groaned and sat up as he rubbed his eyes open, his first thoughts being: _Why am I always getting knocked out and into trouble? Sasori is going to __**kill**__ me. _

He looked around the dark room he was in but couldn't see much. The area seemed to be almost pitch black except he _thought_ he could make out the vague outline of a heavy door. The floor was a cool metal and when he reached to touch the wall behind him he found that it too must have been made of metal or a similar material. There were no furnishings in the room so far as he could tell but it seemed awful small to him and the air felt stale.

_Now's really not the time to start getting claustrophobic. Where the hell am I and how do I get out?_

Deidara reached down to his waist where his clay pouches should have been but, unfortunately for him, they were gone. Only now did he realize the situation he was in. He must have been taken captive by someone. But who? Itachi and Kisame maybe. They had been fighting with Sasori before he lost consciousness. Yet somehow he didn't think that was right.

Then, speaking of Sasori, where was the puppet master? Had he been captured too? Or had he just left the blonde? Had he been…killed? Deidara tried to shake those thoughts out of his head. Sasori wasn't that stupid and he said he wouldn't leave the blonde so either he was captured or he was looking for the blonde at that very moment. Logically, anyways. Still, Deidara somehow couldn't think that way. The truth was, he didn't know what happened to Sasori.

_I can't worry about that right now though. First things first, find a way out of this place then worry about finding Sasori. _

Deidara got up slowly, stretching his stiff muscles. Maybe he could figure a way out through that door thing. Though it was most likely locked and sealed with a jutsu. It still didn't hurt to investigate.

He made his way over the door and placed his hands over it, trying to find a handle and also to see what material the thing was made out of. The darkness wasn't helping much but he deduced that the door was made of some sort of heavy metal and yes, it was locked with a seal and everything.

"Damnit…" he cursed aloud, "now what, un?"

Even if he had his clay to make bombs with, the small size of the room meant that he probably would end up blowing himself up as well. Which wouldn't really accomplish much. And besides, there was still that stupid seal to worry about. Obviously, whoever locked him up sure knew how to keep S-class shinobi under lock and key.

Deidara sat back down and crossed his arms, pouting at the offending door. He could try breaking it down, but it was heavy. And still there was that seal. All the other jutsu he knew flashed through his mind in an instant but not one of them could really help him at the moment. He was just going to have to wait. Unless…

"Hey! Whoever owns this damn place, let me out!" He began shouting. Childish? Maybe. Unwise? Perhaps. But what did he have to lose? He had nothing better to try. "Hey! I know there's someone out there! Let me out now, un!"

He began kicking at the door too. Why not? He wanted to make as much noise as possible. He wanted to know who would come.

"I said let me out! I don't like being kept locked up like this! Let me out, un!"

All of a sudden, the door swung open and Deidara found himself blinking and cringing from the abrupt change in lighting.

"Aren't you a loud one? You've got some spunk kid, I'll give you that."

"Orochimaru" Deidara hissed. So this was his captor. "Where's Sasori-danna, un?"

Orochimaru laughed and let himself in, not bothering to close the door behind him, Deidara noted.

"As if you haven't figured it out; he's obviously not here."

"I can see that; where _is_ he, un?"

"What did I tell you earlier? He doesn't care about you. He went his own way." Orochimaru smirked evilly.

"You're lying, un."

"Am I? Then why are you here?"

_Because I was stupid and let myself be here?_

"Because some _bastard_ thought it would be a funny joke, un."

Orochimaru cackled a bit.

"You are quite an interesting specimen, no doubt about that." The snake sannin smirked wickedly. "But what I tell you is the truth; Sasori left and went to work with Madara. He doesn't need you at all."

"Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about, un!"

"I think I do. Where is Sasori now, if he didn't leave you? You can't expect that he would just let me capture you if he cared, now would he? You're fooling yourself Deidara, and the sooner you realize that the better for you."

At this point, Deidara had become infuriated with the man, but also, he was beginning to doubt himself. Where _was_ Sasori? The things Orochimaru said made sense. Stupid bastard.

"You're lying, un."

With that, Deidara slammed his fist into Orochimaru full force before dashing out the open door. He was going to have to hope that he was just fast enough to outrun the sannin now as he had absolutely no weapons and no clay on his person. He had to find a way out.

Sensing the older ninja behind him, he pushed more chakra towards his legs and picked up the speed. He didn't know where he was going, but one of these halls had to lead outside. They just had to. Once he got out, he could make it.

Deidara ran down endless halls and no matter how fast he went it seemed as if Orochimaru was only a few steps behind him. He never turned to check behind him though. A second's pause could be the difference between escape and imprisonment.

He ran for what felt like hours but in reality were only a few minutes. It just seemed that each hall he turned down led to a dead end. And Orochimaru seemed to be gaining on him. He felt tired and low on chakra. He didn't know how long he had been out for and he didn't put it past his pursuer to drain some of his chakra to prevent an escape like this. Still, he couldn't give up. Down one of these halls there was bound to be an exit. There just had to be.

Finally, he saw it. An opening. He made a mad dash for it but before he could make it out Orochimaru managed to grab him by his still-healing arm, and pull him back. Deidara yelped as pain shot through his arm and he was brought to the floor. Orochimaru smirked triumphantly but not for long. Deidara wouldn't give up that easily. Quickly, he swept the older ninja to the floor before pushing himself up and into a fighting stance. If he was going to have a change now, he would have to wear Orochimaru down first and then make a break for it.

Orochimaru got up slowly and glared at the blonde.

"You've made a mistake, child, and you're going to realize that."

Orochimaru lunged at Deidara, launching a variety of techniques his way. Deidara did his best to dodge and return a blow but it was difficult. Taijutsu had never been his strong point.

Orochimaru seemed to be totally on the offensive, and he seemed to have the advantage. Deidara didn't like his odds in the match, but if he didn't fight then he couldn't escape. He would win. He had to. Freedom was just out that door. All he had to do was deliver a hard blow on Orochimaru then run. He willed his mind to focus.

Unfortunately, Orochimaru had the upper hand. Little by little, Deidara was able to block less and less of the techniques until finally, Orochimaru kicked the blonde in the gut, _hard_. Deidara felt himself meet full impact with a stone wall before crumpling to the ground in pain. Orochimaru smirked evilly, standing over the blonde and breathing heavily.

"You put up a good fight, but there's no way you could have won that."

Deidara groaned his he tried to pick himself up off the ground. He _had_ to get up. He _had_ to fight. He just had to. But Orochimaru saw the blonde's attempts and kicked him in the ribcage, sending him back down to the ground. Deidara gasped in pain as Orochimaru kicked the blonde onto his back.

"Pathetic really. Did you think you could beat me? You fool."

Orochimaru kicked the blonde, hard, and Deidara swore he could hear his ribs crack. He moaned as Orochimaru kept on kicking him in the ribcage. Seriously, didn't the bastard know when to stop?

"Oh well, you're going to have to be punished for that, you know? Too bad you didn't have your precious clay with you. Maybe things would have been more interesting. Then again, probably not. You're just a child. What could you do against me?"

Deidara closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He was so close. He couldn't let Orochimaru win. Balling his hands into fists he somehow managed to bring his legs around and sweep the unsuspecting Orochimaru to the ground. Staggering, he got up, and looking around he saw some rusty iron rod lying on the ground. Picking up the blunt object, he chucked it towards a surprised Orochimaru, hitting the snake sannin square in the forehead, causing the man to fall to the ground.

"Never underestimate your opponent, un."

With that he turned and ran as fast as he could out the door. He had to get as far away as possible, but that was going to be difficult with his injuries and no clay to mold a bird. He had knocked Orochimaru out but for who knows how long? He didn't have the strength to keep fighting. He didn't even have the strength to keep running. But he had to. His adrenaline kicked in and he forced himself to run.

Eventually, after the adrenaline wore off, he had to stop. He was fighting to even keep himself awake with his depleted chakra levels and the pain from his injuries. Moaning, he dropped himself into some sort of undergrowth and clutched at his abdomen. He struggled to keep his eyelids open, but it was too much as he felt himself fading.

* * *

**A/N: That's it! Hope it was worth the wait, and I am terribly sorry it took so long! Yes, I leave you at a cliffhanger but hopefully the next update will be soon-ish...that chapter took a while...**

**Deidara: Actually, you had half the thing written for two months but just decided to take the time to finish it today, un.  
Me: YOU! **waves book around again**  
Deidara: **Runs off laughing manically**  
Me: COME BACK HERE!  
Sasori: **sigh** Leave a review. For my sanity please. -.-  
Deidara: AND YOU CAN ALL THROW ROTTEN FRUIT AT MIDNIGHT CUZ SHE TOOK SO LONG FOR YOU AWESOME READERS, UN!  
Me: GET OVER HERE YOU!  
Deidara: **Runs off laughing again**  
Sasori: Why me? -.-**


End file.
